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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26506315">Trustworthy</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/subernabur/pseuds/subernabur'>subernabur</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Among Us (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Add tags as I go, Angst, Bad Ending, Cannibalism, Comfort, F/M, M/M, Multi, Murder Mystery, Other, Sad Ending, am i supposed to be proud of this?, cause i am, i have written more for this dumb fic than literally anything else ive ever written please help, no beta we die like men</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 13:29:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>20,910</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26506315</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/subernabur/pseuds/subernabur</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kira is finally achieving her dream: Going to space. Yes, it's a top secret mission where nobody can know anybody else, but screw it because space. Sure is a good thing there's no, like... murderers in space, or anything...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Blue (Among Us)/Red (Among Us), Brown (Among Us)/White (Among Us), Crewmate/Impostor (Among Us)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>62</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>213</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Get To Know You Games</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I put way too much effort into this. Kudos and comments are, as always, appreciated. But like... actually read it first. Also open to criticism btw</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A huge rocket ship waited in the launchpad, almost completely prepared to take off. All that was left for the crew to get settled. Said crew was currently in a room just a little bit away, preparing for their final briefing before entering the rocket.</p><p>Kira stayed quiet as the other space cadets in the room talked amongst themselves. She only looked up from the ground when somebody in a blue suit told all of the space cadets to be quiet. The symbol on their badge that hooked onto the shirt they wore signified them to be the mission leader.</p><p>They started to tell them what was going to happen, but Kira already knew most of this. Nevertheless, she listened. They were supposed to be in hypersleep until they arrived at the alien planet of Polus. Everyone’s identity was to be kept secret, and they would be using code names based on the color of their suits. The leader was Blue. Kira was brown. Etcetera etcetera. This was a surprise to Kira, as well as the rest of the crew, it seemed. </p><p>But Blue didn’t stop in their speech, talking about other rules that they had to follow on the spaceship. Kira somewhat zoned out, thinking about loopholes she could exploit. Sure, she could just do as Blue said, but so far it sounded like a lot of chores.</p><p>Kira’s mind focused on Blue again as he started to warn them about what they would find on the alien planet. “There are alien parasites on Polus. If you see anyone doing anything suspicious, report it to me or Red, the co-commander.”</p><p>Kira’s heart dropped. Aliens? Parasites? She suddenly wasn’t so sure about going to space anymore. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much she could do as Blue finally finished in their speech and they were all herded into the ship. Kira’s anxiety only increased as she entered her hypersleep chamber, closing the lid and trying to settle in.</p><p><br/>
</p><p>Alarms blared angrily as the lid lifted painfully slowly off of the hypersleep chamber. Kira wasn’t sure how she’d feel after being asleep for months, but sleepiness… well, it wasn’t a huge surprise. She stumbled out of the chamber and looked at her other crewmates.They looked to be in a similar situation as her, stumbling around like a bunch of drunk idiots. All of them, except for Blue. It only seemed right that they were the only truly awake one, rushing everybody else to wake up all the way.</p><p>Kira’s head pounded. The violently loud alarms were still going off. As the last crewmate exited their chamber, Blue practically shoved them all out of the room towards the cafeteria. The rainbow of colored suits all blended together and Kira just followed the crowd.</p><p>She wasn’t sure what happened that set off the alarms, but Kira sighed in relief as the small crowd finally slowed down, setting themselves at the center table as Blue stopped the alarm at a panel in a side wall. Now that the movement had finally ceased, Kira discovered it wasn’t as huge a crowd as she had once thought. Were there more people at the briefing? Now that they had all sat down, Kira—no, it was Brown now—counted that there were about ten of them.</p><p>Just as Blue had said, each person had a different color suit. There was herself, dressed in brown, then Blue, Cyan, Orange, Red, Green, White, Purple, Pink, and Yellow.</p><p>Red was the co-commander to Blue. Definitely the strong silent type. Brown hadn’t heard him speak a single word, letting Blue do it all, but he was definitely protective of Blue. </p><p>Brown could practically taste the cockiness that radiated from Orange. Despite their one-way helmet it wasn’t hard to know that Orange had a smug grin on their face right now.</p><p>Yellow was… Excited. Despite the so-called parasites, they couldn’t stop bouncing in their seat. Brown couldn’t figure out if it was a “let’s go party and have fun” energy, or a “what’s going on let’s delve into your personal life” energy. Neither seemed very appealing, but Brown definitely preferred one over the other. </p><p>Green was watching Blue eagerly. It wasn’t hard to guess that they were a teacher’s pet, and probably a book worm along with that. Hopefully they just weren’t a stuck up brat.</p><p>Cyan kept looking curiously at the other crewmates sitting at the table. They weren’t panicked, but Cyan was definitely being cautious. Brown was immediately inclined to trust their wary nature, but pushed that instinct away, instead looking at the other members.</p><p>Purple was like Cyan, observing everybody else but with an air of distrust in their movements. They were being more stealthy about their observation than Cyan, but it was still visible. </p><p>Brown could only assume that whoever was in the pink suit was either very feminine or very sarcastic. They had a flower attached to their helmet and were dangling their legs, waiting for Blue to continue speaking. Brown couldn’t figure out if they wanted sarcastic or feminine more, but neither were awful. </p><p>White was quiet and still. Despite not being able to see their eyes, Brown could tell they were barely focused, lost in thought and looking at nothing. </p><p>What a motley crew.</p><p>The alarm finally silenced, and Blue stepped away from the panel and onto the table they all sat, sticking out from the others. Brown could hear the murmurs from the other crewmates, wondering why the alarm was on in the first place. Brown found herself wondering the same thing.</p><p>“I know you’re all wondering why the alarm went off,” Blue said, practically reading their minds. Though it wasn’t very hard to guess. “It was to help wake us up from hypersleep. If we were still drowsy while piloting the ship, it could be seriously dangerous.</p><p>“Now, we’re going to land on Polus in about an hour.” Blue continued. “Before we land, however, we’re going to assign partners in duos and trios. This is to keep everybody safe on Polus.”</p><p>The entire group let out an audible sigh. “I know, I know.” Blue said. “It’s for your safety, though, and it’s necessary.”</p><p>Nonetheless, Brown was even less excited about being here.</p><p>“We’re all strangers, so I’m sure you won’t mind if I assign partners.” Another annoyed sigh, but one Blue didn’t bother to comment on.</p><p>“Red and I will be the first duo. Then…” Blue looked around the group for a second, deciding. “Brown and White will be a duo as well. Cyan, Pink, and Orange will be a trio. That leaves Yellow, Green, and Purple for the second trio.”</p><p>Brown looked at White, who had finally broken from their stupor and was staring back. They looked emotionless, even their body language not communicating any kind of personality they might have.</p><p>“Now, we have about thirty minutes before someone has to pilot the ship to land on Polus. While we’re waiting… Let’s play some get to know you games!”</p><p>More groans.</p><p><br/>
</p><p>“California.” Brown answered. The question had been asking where she would live if she could live anywhere. “Specifically on the beach. I love swimming, and I want a boat.”</p><p>Now that she was sitting next to her partner, she instinctively held his hand, like he was about to disappear any second now. Even though she had just met him a few minutes ago, Brown felt like she could tell him her life story and he would listen to every single part of it without judgement. He hadn’t said much, really, just answering questions when necessary. But every once in a while he would squeeze her hand, and that was enough.</p><p>It was White’s turn again, so he picked a question out of the small bowl that sat in the center of the table. Like he had been instructed to, he read the question out loud. </p><p>“Have you ever had a nickname and what was it?” He dropped his hands from his face, thinking. “Uh, does White count?” He said, and the entire group chuckled.</p><p>The person next to him, Orange, grabbed the next question. The number of paper slips in the bowl was starting to get low.</p><p>“What three items would you take with you on a deserted island?” Orange read out loud, looking perturbed. “Uh… A phone that always has cell service. Then a box full of food and water, and um… A book, or something that’ll entertain me for a few hours.”</p><p>“That’s not fair.” Purple said. “A box with food and water is three items. It doesn’t count as just one thing.”</p><p>“Uh, yeah it does.” Orange responded with an annoyed tone. “A bag of apples is one thing. Just because there’s more than one apple in it means it counts as more than one item.”</p><p>“That’s different. Those apples are all the same.” Purple said, his voice still calm unlike Orange. “But if you have something with two different items, those are all individual items.”</p><p>“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Brown whispered under her breath as Orange and Purple continued to argue.</p><p>“That makes no sense!” Orange responded.</p><p>“Ok, look, why don’t we all just calm down—” Blue tried to end the argument, but was interrupted by Orange, who had been plainly ignoring them.</p><p>“Look, you’re just jealous that I had a better answer than the one you thought of. I’m smart, you’re dumb. Get used to it.” Orange said, folding their arms smugly.</p><p>“This really isn’t necessary…” Blue said, quieter this time as Purple didn’t bother to wait for them to finish before continuing.</p><p>“Yeah, that’s definitely not right. You? Smarter than me?” </p><p>“Hah! As if it’s that hard to believe. You haven’t really set the bar very high, have you?”</p><p>“Excuse me? I’m not the one who can’t count! Not to mention, a phone that always has cell service? That doesn’t exist!”</p><p>“They never said the items had to be real! If I really wanted to stretch it then I’d just bring a freakin’ unicorn!”</p><p>“Maybe they just assumed that you wouldn’t be an idiot?” Purple said, just as smug as Orange now. “Though I’m sure that’s really quite difficult for someone of your level of intellect.”</p><p>“Stop saying big words!” Orange replied. “It doesn’t make you look smarter.”</p><p>“And you can’t understand them?”</p><p>“I never said that.”</p><p>“You didn’t have to.”</p><p>“Oh my gosh,” Brown said loudly, rolling her eyes. “Can you two shut up?”</p><p>The entire group went quiet, shocked at Brown yelling. She had yet to say a single word out of the necessary questions like White, so her sudden outburst was a surprise.</p><p>“Thank you, Brown.” Blue said. “Next person, please.” They said with a relieved sigh.</p><p>Cyan looked back at Orange and Purple for a second before reaching for a slip of paper, reading it out loud. “Are you more of an extrovert or an introvert?”</p><p>The question made Cyan think for a second. “I suppose an introvert, but I can get really excited around people I know well.”</p><p>“Well, actually,” Green said. “Being an introvert doesn’t necessarily mean you’re always shy and quiet one hundred percent of the time. An extrovert is just excited with everyone, while introverts are only excitable around people they trust.”</p><p>Cyan was practically glaring knives at Green now. “You know what I meant.”</p><p>“Ok, next one.” Blue said before another argument could begin. “Pink! It’s your turn.”</p><p>Pink nodded excitedly, grabbing a piece of paper from the center bowl. “What activity instantly calms you down? Oh, that’s easy! I love gardening. Seeing my work pay off after a while always makes me excited.”</p><p>Yellow didn’t wait to grab their own piece of paper, bouncing in their seat as they read it. “If you found a genie, what would your three wishes be?” They thought for a second before answering. “Well, I’d wish that, um… I would wish for infinite pancakes.” They said with a little bit of giggle. Their first wish had Brown chuckling as well.</p><p>“And I’d also wish to always be able to be an astronaut. And… that we’ll all be safe on Polus.” Yellow said, their shy smile hidden behind their helmet. Brown internally aww-ed at the last wish.</p><p>Green reached for their own slip of paper, reading it out loud just like everybody before them. “If you could have any superpower, what would it be? Well that’s obvious. I’d want to be the smartest person ever, always.” He said.</p><p>Brown found herself rolling her eyes, but didn’t say anything as Purple reached for a paper. “Do you… believe in any conspiracy theories?” Purple said with some hesitation, as if unsure they were reading it right. “No.” They said matter of factly. “Conspiracy theories are stupid and time wasters.”</p><p>Blue looked rather distressed, reaching for a paper before anybody could comment on Purple’s answer. “If you could own any mythical creature, what would it be? Uhm, a tiny dragon. Yeah, a tiny dragon that follows me everywhere.”</p><p>Red was next, reaching for the bowl of papers. “If you could choose how to die, what would you choose? Um, I would choose to not die.” He huffed. “Dying is overrated.”</p><p>Brown chuckled, as did most of the others seated at the table. She was about to grab a second piece of paper when a beeping noise went off. “Oh, we’re about to land. Everybody get into a secure seat in the hypersleep room and buckle yourself in. It’s gonna be bumpy. Red, come with me to Navigation.”</p><p>Blue and Red went their separate ways while Brown tightened their grip on White’s hand. Anxiety surged through Brown, but the feel of White’s hand lessened it. She couldn’t help but feel like maybe she was getting too attached too fast. They would be on Polus for quite some time, with the same ten people. She was already feeling a little isolated. But Brown stayed quiet, sitting on one of the secure seats in the room designated for hypersleep chambers. She sat next to White, pulling out a seatbelt and locking it into place. </p><p>Thirty minutes later, the crew landed on Polus.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Lights Out</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The base they landed in had been built years prior, requiring upkeep often despite nobody living in it. This is what they were here for. Fix things, record everything that happens, and then leave. That was what was supposed to happen, and that was what they had been trained for. It would take a week at most. Months asleep just for a week on an alien planet. A week spent doing chores and maintenance. </p><p>Brown was already regretting this.</p><p>She only let White’s hand go when they were settling into their rooms. There were three rooms to sleep in, each with rows of beds that showed the base was clearly meant for more than their small crew. Even though there were three other people in the girls’ hall, Brown still felt lonely as she laid down on her bed. The crew could rest for a few hours and do whatever they wanted before lunch, after which they would start their work on the base.</p><p>Brown’s head poked up as she heard the hall door open. Standing in the doorway, White looked around awkwardly. There weren’t any rules about him being here since they got dressed in a different room, but it was a little awkward. Brown stood up and walked over to him, holding out her hand. He wordlessly took it, and Brown was suddenly sad that he couldn’t see the little smile that she had on her face.</p><p>White led the way through the base. Brown suddenly realized that she had no idea where he was going or where he was leading her, but didn’t stop him. She’d learn soon enough. </p><p>They finally stopped their walk inside of the oxygen room, where a tree stood. It looked strangely unnatural with a computer attached and no breeze to move it. But Brown still appreciated the small remnant of Earth here. </p><p>Since White had stopped, Brown took the opportunity to sit down, feeling the grass that grew around the tree. Like the tree, it felt fake and wrong, almost like plastic, but it still moved like grass under her fingers. The bittersweet feeling made her smile sadly, gripping White’s hand harder but making sure it wasn’t enough to hurt him. She instinctively curled up, slightly leaning on her partner and her eyes fluttering closed. She was still drowsy from hypersleep despite all that she had done since she came out, and her muscles didn’t want to move more than necessary.</p><p>She woke up when White gently tapped her, Blue awkwardly standing in the doorway. “It’s, uh… It’s lunchtime.” Blue said, shuffling his feet like he had walked in on an intimate moment. Brown couldn’t help but think that he had.   </p><p>When they sat down in the cafeteria, both of them kept their hands away from each other. Brown couldn’t help but feel like her hand was too empty for comfort, but she tried to push away that feeling as she ate. The food was surprisingly tasty, having been made by Pink using frozen packages that the ship had stocked for them. Brown had been worried about the food, with all of it being frozen, but it had turned out pretty good. Better than most fast food places, at least, though the bar wasn’t very high.</p><p>Everyone ate silently until Blue cleared their throat. “So, everybody… How has your day… been?”</p><p>Brown chuckled. “You know exactly how our day has been. You’ve been with us the entire time!”</p><p>Blue shrugged. “I’m trying to make conversation. If you have a better idea…”</p><p>“I do, actually.” Brown said sarcastically. “Let’s all play some get to know you games!”</p><p>Most of the crewmates at the table laughed at her comment, and Green waited for the laughter to die down before commenting. “Well, I’m reading this book called Crossfire. It’s a fantasy book, and it’s been pretty good so far.”</p><p>“What’s it about?” Purple asked, turning their head toward her.</p><p>“Uhm…” Green looked down at their feet, clearly embarrassed. “It’s about, um… cats.”</p><p>Purple snickered, holding their hand up to their helmet in a useless attempt to cover it up. Green glared back at them in response, and was about to say something in reply when Red spoke up.</p><p>“We’ve got tasks to do after this, right Blue?”</p><p>Blue nodded eagerly. “They should be pretty easy, but some of them do take a while. The downloading tasks take about thirty minutes each… It’s just a lot of waiting around, really. Don’t worry, it’ll be fun. Just remember to be careful! Oh, and wash your hands and make sure to shower. The parasites on this planet can be pretty dangerous. Buuuut they’re not deadly,” Blue said the last sentence quickly after seeing Pink and Yellow get nervous.</p><p>Brown stopped paying attention to the conversation when she realized White was looking at the hallway behind them. Even though she couldn’t see his face, she could tell something was worrying him. “What’s wrong?” She whispered towards White as the conversation at the table continued without them.</p><p>“I’m not sure, I just… Don’t you feel like someone’s… watching us?” White said, his eyebrows furrowing under his helmet.</p><p>“That’s creepy,” Brown replied with a slight worry underneath her sarcastic tone. “You’re probably just imagining it.” She said.</p><p>White couldn’t stop checking behind him for the rest of lunch, and near the end he finally stood up. “I have to pee.” He awkwardly spouted out before rushing off. Brown chuckled with the rest of the group, but now she was constantly checking behind her like White, waiting for him to finally come back. It took a while, but he finally returned, looking much more relieved.</p><p>“Are you alright?” Brown said as White sat back down, but before White could reply Blue stood up and started to clean up their food, telling everybody else to do the same. I’ll ask him later, Brown thought to herself. </p><p>After throwing out her paper plate into the trash, Brown headed towards White only to be interrupted by Blue, handing them a tablet and their ID card. “Here, you’ll need these for your tasks.”</p><p>“Erm—Thanks, Blue.” Brown said, grabbing the items from his hands and then finally making their way over to White, who had clearly received the same treatment and was staring down at their tablet. “White, are you alright?” Brown asked, stopping in front of him and resisting the urge to grab his hand.</p><p>“Hm? Oh, yeah I’m fine. Why, did something happen?” He asked, looking up from his tablet.</p><p>“You just seemed really… distressed when you left for the bathroom. I was worried.” Brown said, look down at their feet in embarrassment. “Sorry, I should have guessed you were ok.”</p><p>“No, I appreciate your worry. Come on, where’s your first task?” He said, grabbing Brown’s hand. “Mine is in the office.”</p><p>“Well, I have one in there too, so let’s go.” Brown said, letting White lead the way into the office and swiping their ID card on the scanner. Brown soon followed suit, waiting for White to fix some wires as well, watching him carefully line up the correct wires. She silently led the way into the decontamination and then the specimen room, unlocking the manifolds. Whatever those were.</p><p>While she did that, White took care of the artifacts that had been left out, organizing them into boxes. When he was down he grabbed Brown’s hand again, and led the two of them up north towards the laboratory. There, Brown scanned herself, feeling slightly awkward as White watched the results pop up on a screen.</p><p>Brown finally stepped off the pad, sighing in relief and following White as he walked over to the telescope, recording the new locations of the planets and a wreck. Brown glanced at the record, slightly disappointed when she discovered that the planets had barely moved.</p><p>White waited patiently as Brown clicked on a screen to record the outside temperature, glad that they had suits on to keep them warm as the temperature went into the negatives. They were walking outside to the other temperature recorder when suddenly all of the lights in the base went off. The only thing Brown could see was the subtle glow of the lava and turned around, realizing that she hadn’t been holding White’s hand.</p><p>“White?” Brown asked, spinning around. Oh no. She desperately used the light from her tablet to try to find her way in the eternal night of Polus, stumbling around the rocks but thankfully not falling into the lava.</p><p>Brown gasped in pain as she fell into one of the many cracks in the ground. A small pop sounded as the foot landed awkwardly and bending wrong. She gently tried to pull out her foot, her breaths getting faster as she tried to push away the sensation of pain.</p><p>“God, damnit.” She huffed. “Please don’t tell me I broke something.” Brown muttered to herself as she clutched her ankle. She looked around for someone to help her before remembering that, oh yeah, all of the lights were out. She couldn’t do anything but sit there in pain waiting for someone to either trip over her or wait for the lights to come back on. </p><p>She wasn’t sure which would take longer.</p><p>So she sat there for a few minutes, whimpering occasionally in pain every time she tried to put weight on her foot. It never worked.</p><p>“Brown?” A familiar voice sounded in front of her and Blue leaned down next to Brown. “Are you okay? What happened?”</p><p>“I-I tripped. Badly. I heard a pop.” She said, still breathing heavily in pain.</p><p>“Ok, let’s see if we can get you to the lab and patch you up. Hopefully someone will fix the lights soon. Do you know where White is?”</p><p>“No, we were a couple feet apart when the lights turned off and then I had no idea where he went. It was…” She took a break to breathe before continuing. “It was quite a surprise, heheh. Does this normally happen on Polus?”</p><p>“No… It doesn’t.” Blue said with a concerned voice, picking Brown up in a bridal carry, trying not to jostle Brown’s ankle too much. Every time it moved she would wince in pain, despite her efforts not to give it away.</p><p>Blue used the light of their two tablets in an attempt to lead the way, only stumbling twice on the way to the laboratory. In the lab Blue laid Brown down on one of the beds, unsure what to do now. He didn’t want to leave Brown in the dark, but he couldn’t just sit there.</p><p>“Is it alright if I go get you an ice pack for your ankle?” Blue said, staying close to Brown so she could see him in the limited light.</p><p>“Please, do.” Brown responded, voice stressed. “That would be great.”</p><p>Blue nodded, going over to the lab and grabbing one of the ice packs in the first aid kit. He closed the door to the outside, locking it closed so the cold wouldn’t get to them. He gently took off Brown’s boot, laying the ice pack on top of the already swelling ankle.</p><p>Brown winced in pain for a second before sighing in her relief. “Thanks, Blue. That helps a lot.” She looked up at Blue, wondering what he looked like under the helmet. “Hey Blue? I have a question about the mission.”</p><p>“What is it?” Blue asked, sitting down on the bed next to Brown.</p><p>“Why do we need to keep our identities secret? It’s just routine maintenance… Why is it such a big deal?”</p><p>“Well… yes, it is routine, but it’s also extremely important. Very few people know about this base, and those that do need to keep it secret. If someone were to learn about it and sneak onboard, the other crewmates could be in danger, even after the mission was finished.”</p><p>Brown nodded. The answer made sense, but it still didn’t satisfy her. Nonetheless, she leaned back, her breathing finally normal again now that the pain was mostly gone.</p><p>After a few minutes the lights finally turned back on.</p><p>“Oh thank goodness.” Brown and Blue said in sync, causing both of them to chuckle.</p><p>“We need to go find White.” Blue said. “Do you want to wait here?”</p><p>Well, truthfully, she didn’t, but she nodded anyways. “I’ll just be sitting here.” She said sarcastically. </p><p>Blue left without a word, closing the door behind him to keep out the cold. </p><p>And Brown was alone.</p><p>Four minutes later Blue returned with White. Brown propped herself up with a smile but wasn’t prepared for White to run towards her and hug his friend.</p><p>“I had no idea where you went.” He said after finally letting go. “I just went the way I thought you were and then ended up in the office again.”</p><p>“I was scared too,” Brown replied, answering his unsaid question. “But Blue found me, thank goodness. I sprained my ankle horribly.”</p><p>White looked at said ankle, worry creasing his unseen face. “You need to be more careful.”</p><p>“Well excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse me.” Brown said, rolling her eyes. “I meant to sprain it this bad, don’t you know?”</p><p>White chuckled. “Well, at least Blue found you. I’m glad you’re ok.” He said, flashing Blue a grateful smile before remembering that Blue couldn’t see a thing.</p><p>Before any of them could say anything else, the door opened, a rush of cold flowing in. Orange stood there, clearly panicked.</p><p>“Orange, close the door! You’ll let the cold in,” Blue said, completely oblivious to Orange’s fear.</p><p>“No time for that,” He panted out. “Green’s dead.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Haha, White is a simp</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Casualty</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>100 hits im 🥺</p><p>Just a warning: There's a fair bit of mature language here, specifically the f-word. There's also graphic descriptions of gore so um. Yeah</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Brown’s breaths got heavier as they stumbled through the hallways with Blue and White, their ankle still throbbing underneath their boot. But pain wasn’t important right now. What mattered was that someone was dead. Someone was fucking dead. Dead… Green was dead and they weren’t ever going to come back.</p><p>No… Maybe they were just hurt badly…? Maybe they could be saved, maybe they were going to be ok.</p><p>Brown almost tripped as Blue and White stopped suddenly inside of the oxygen chamber. All of the other crewmates were already there, waiting for them. And Green…</p><p>Fuck. No, no no no no no. Blue said they would all be safe. Brown looked away from Green’s mauled body, trying to push it out of her head. “No no no no no no no no no.” She muttered to herself, holding her head in her hands. “No.” Brown said louder, hyperventilating. “This can’t be happening. Blue, you said this was safe. You said the mission was safe!” Brown snarled, shaking Blue in their rage, barely able to keep standing on their ankle.</p><p>“I-I didn’t know-!” Blue responded, taking a step back as Red forced Brown to let go of the captain. “This wasn’t supposed to happen! First the lights, and then Green-"</p><p>“Screw you.” Brown huffed, taking a step back. “You ‘thought’ it was going to be safe and now someone’s…” Her breath hitched in her throat and she shook her head. “How did this happen, Blue? Who could have done this?"</p><p>“Brown…” Blue hesitated for a second before continuing. “There’s no other bases on Polus, and nobody else came with us on the ship. One of us is the murderer."</p><p>The room went scarily quiet and Brown finally looked at Green. Her helmet had been shattered, and Green’s forehead  had been bashed in. The rest of their body had been mauled as well, bleeding everywhere. Tiny white pieces of their skull were scattered around the floor of oxygen, and Green’s face was stuck in a position of resignation. Did they know what was going to happen? What were they attacked with?</p><p>“No. Fuck this. We’re going home, Blue.” Brown said.</p><p>“We can’t. If the murderer gets back home then we’ll never know who it is. And…"</p><p>“And?"</p><p>“If it was the parasite that caused this, then it might spread…"</p><p>“What!?” Brown yelled again. “I thought you said the parasite wasn’t deadly!"</p><p>“Well, it’s not! Not to the host, at least… Brown, I’m sorry!"</p><p>“No, you’re not. It was fucking you, wasn’t it? You murdered Green.” Brown retaliated.</p><p>“Brown, calm down—” Red tried to intervene, but Brown pushed them away, stumbling on her hurt foot and leaning against the wall.</p><p>“You killed Green and then came over to me so you would have an alibi. Didn’t you?” Brown snarled.</p><p>Blue went quiet, unsure what to say. After a few seconds, they finally spoke. “Brown, please calm down."</p><p>“Fuck you and your calm down! I hope you trip and fall into that lava outside."</p><p>“Brown!” Purple yelled. “Stop! We don’t need to argue even more than we already have. If we calm down and stick together, then we’ll be safe, okay? Then we can get rid of whoever hurt Green and then get home. All of us, ok?"</p><p>“Not Green,” Brown said, huffing more. They almost tripped on their ankle, but were luckily caught by White standing behind them.</p><p>“Brown, you’re badly hurt. Let’s get you into the laboratory.” White said, helping Brown up.</p><p>“I don’t need your help.” Brown growled, trying to get out of White’s grip but only flailing weakly. “Let… Let me go.” Brown whimpered almost cowardly, unable to stop staring at Green now. </p><p>Pink and Yellow looked at each other for a second before Pink spoke up. “I can help bring Brown to the lab if you need it. They look really tired."</p><p>“Thank you, Pink.” Blue said. “We… We should do something with Green.” He said, looking at the corpse. “Red, can you figure out a… a burial, or something?"</p><p>“Of course, Blue."</p><p>“Thank you.” Blue let out a sigh of relief. “Nobody should be alone for now, so… Yellow and Purple, go with Red. And… I’ll go with White and Pink. Orange, you and Cyan… Just be careful, okay?"</p><p>Orange and Cyan looked at each other with obvious distrust, but nodded anyways.</p><p>Halfway towards the laboratory, Brown finally stopped trying to escape White’s grip around them, letting themselves be carried. Sweat dripped off of Brown’s face, anxiety still building up as they were laid down on the bed. </p><p>“Brown, try and fall asleep, okay?” Blue said, pulling the thin blanket over them. Brown barely responded, only grumbling.</p><p>“What should we do now?” Pink asked, shuffling their feet nervously. “None of this changes the fact that there’s a murderer in the base."</p><p>“I know.” Blue responded, holding their head in their hands. “I’m honestly not sure what to do now. There are no dangerous weapons in the base. I have no idea how someone could hurt Green like that."</p><p>"While the lights were off… maybe they used a makeshift weapon?" White guessed.</p><p>"Then there would be a blood trail, or whatever they used would be bloodied, or something would be missing but there's just… nothing." Blue said. </p><p>"Maybe we just haven't found it yet. Don't lose hope." Pink said, walking closer to Blue in an attempt to comfort them.</p><p>"Thank you." Blue said. "Now let's give Brown some space. They need the sleep."</p><p>"What if… what if the murderer tries to kill them?" Pink said, worry edging their voice.</p><p>"I'm going to try to keep everyone together from now on, so hopefully the murderer won't risk it." Blue responded, though they obviously weren't very confident.</p><p>"I'll watch her." White volunteered. </p><p>"White, you really don't have to do that." Blue said. "You'd be in danger too."</p><p>"I'll be fine. I can protect myself. You two go ahead." White said, taking a seat on the bed next to Brown's. </p><p>Blue hesitated, but finally gave in and walked out, Pink following.</p><p>A few minutes passed and Brown raised her head, checking the room around them. Just White, who had somehow managed to fall asleep. How tired was White to fall asleep so fast? How did he do that with the helmet on?</p><p>After thinking about it for a second, Brown released the latch on her helmet and gently laid it on the ground. Now she could really sleep. She would just make sure to put it back on before anybody saw. At least now she could actually sleep comfortably. Well, as comfortably as possible.</p><p>White watched as Brown took off their helmet and then laid back down, feigning sleep. When he was sure that Brown was asleep, he stood up and walked over to Brown, looking down at her face. Her eyelashes fluttered gently as she slept, quietly breathing with her arms curled around herself. Her short hair was ruffled around her head, pressing into the low quality pillow easily. </p><p>Seeing her sleep peacefully, White walked back to the bed he had been sitting on, getting back on top of it and waiting patiently. When he thought that Brown was deep enough in her sleep to not wake, he gently lifted up her head and put the helmet back on.</p><p>Thirty minutes later the door to the medbay opened again and White was sitting on the bed next to Brown, who was still sleeping peacefully. At least, he assumed so. She hadn't moved in her sleep or said anything, so she was probably still asleep.</p><p>After making sure Brown was still asleep, White looked behind him to see who was standing in the doorway. Cyan was waiting there, clearly nervous as they stepped into the room. "Blue told me to stay with you guys so that you weren't in danger." They shuffled their feet awkwardly.</p><p>"But… you think I'm the murderer." White guessed.</p><p>"N-No!" Cyan quickly said. "I-I mean, I don't think you're not the killer, but— I mean, well, it's possible, but it could be me too and—"</p><p>White cut them off with a chuckle. "It's alright. I'd be worried too. We can stay separate from each other if you want."</p><p>"Well, I don't want to be rude, but... yes, I would like that." Cyan said. "I'll just, erm…" They skirted around White to the other side of Brown, sitting on the bed next to her.</p><p>A few minutes passed in awkward silence between them, only filled by the sound of Brown's gentle snores. White was content to sit there in silence, but Cyan looked anxious, swinging their legs. "So, erm, White. What do you—well, I don't know, I mean, so, if you um, would you—well, I don't know. Whodoyouthinkthekilleris?" Cyan finally spouted out after tripping over their own words.</p><p>White chuckled. "I'm not sure, really. I just… I hope they won't be brave enough—well, stupid enough—to kill someone else while we're all grouped together like this."</p><p>Cyan nodded. "Blue looked really, really worried. As worried as you can look with a giant helmet on your head, at least."</p><p>"I wish we could take off these dumb helmets." White huffed. "Yeah, they 'protect our identity' or whatever, but from who? Cause the killer doesn't care about our identity. They just want us dead."</p><p>Cyan nodded. "You're right, but… I don't want to disobey Blue…"</p><p>"I can respect that." White said, nodding. "I just wish we had more… I don't know, clues or something. Whoever hurt Green that badly… they don't have a conscience. The only thing stopping them from killing the rest of us right now is we outnumber them, and by a lot."</p><p>"They're gonna keep on picking us off, one by one…" Cyan whimpered.</p><p>"Hey, Cyan—I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. They won't get any further, I promise." White said, walking over to Cyan and putting his hand on their back "Don't cry, please don't cry…"</p><p>Cyan flinched away from White's hand at first before leaning into it, sniffling. "White, do you think we'll ever make it home?"</p><p>"Yeah, I do." White said. "I think we'll catch the murderer before anyone else gets hurt, okay? You've got to believe in that for me, too."</p><p>"O-Ok, alright… Yeah." Cyan said, calming themselves down. They glanced at White before looking at Brown. "How long do you think it'll be until Brown is ok again?"</p><p>"It should take about three weeks to heal, but we might be able to speed it up with the medbay." White responded. "If nothing else happens to her ankle, then she should be healed by the time we go back home."</p><p>Cyan was quiet for a second before releasing the latch on their helmet, lifting it up. They shook out their short hair, blinking bright green eyes at White. Freckles were speckled across their face, making them seem younger than they were. "Thank you, White."</p><p>White was still for a second, staring at Cyan, before doing the same and holding their helmet in their gloved hands. "Bane. That's my real name."</p><p>"Tempo." Cyan responded before chuckling a little bit. "Bane. Like a Batman villain."</p><p>"Man, I haven't heard someone say Batman since high school. Does it even still exist?"</p><p>"No, it just magically disappeared off the face of the earth while we were in space." Tempo laughed. </p><p>"Well I'm not complaining. I wore a mask like Bane’s every Halloween just because it worked." </p><p>Tempo laughed loudly at that. "You're joking, right? Every Halloween?"</p><p>"Every one, until I graduated college."</p><p>"That's hilarious. Why did you keep doing it?"</p><p>"Well in middle school my parents realized it wasn't funny anymore and decided I wasn't allowed to dress up for Halloween since I was 'too mature.'" Bane said, making finger quotes on the last two words. "So I promised myself to dress up as Bane at every possible opportunity. I came to family reunions in full cosplay."</p><p>Tempo laughed even louder this time, taking a second to recover before speaking. “You can’t be serious. That’s hilarious!"</p><p>“Well—” Bane was interrupted in their sentence by the sound of the door opening. The two of them both quickly put their helmets back on as Blue walked in with Red.</p><p>“Have you two seen Orange?” Blue asked, oblivious to the two of them reattaching the latches for their helmets.</p><p>“No.” White answered for Cyan. “We’ve been sitting here for a while."</p><p>“We haven’t seen them for a while, but they were supposed to be with us.” Red continued for Blue. “They were with us for a while before they just disappeared."</p><p>“Maybe they were just scared.” Cyan offered. “We’ll find them soon, cowering or something.” Cyan chuckled nervously.</p><p>“We should wake up Brown.” White said. “They’ve been sleeping for an hour or so, and they already slept a lot today. I doubt they’ll be able to sleep tonight."</p><p>“Let’s try and wrap up their foot.” Blue said, looking through some of the cabinets. “I think there are crutches she can use somewhere in here.” Red joined in the search while White gently shook Brown awake.</p><p>Brown batted away White’s hand tiredly, grumbling incoherently.</p><p>“Brown, you’ve gotta get up.” White said sternly. Brown huffed, but sat up, going to scratch their face before realizing their helmet was back on. They looked at White with a hidden face of confusion. Had White seen her?</p><p>“How long has it been since you saw Orange?” Cyan asked, walking over to Red and Blue to grab the crutches they found.</p><p>“I can’t remember, but we’ve been looking for them for a long time. It wasn’t long after I sent you to go check on Brown and White.” Blue answered, helping Red pull out some bandages.</p><p>Red grabbed the bandages and walked over to Brown, taking off their boot and wrapping up their ankle as gently as possible with it still being tight. They used multiple rolls of bandages, bulking up the wrapping so that it couldn’t move or get injured further. “Hopefully this is thick enough to keep your feet warm when you’re outside.” Red commented, finishing with the bandages. Cyan walked up and handed Brown the crutches, which they reluctantly took, trying to stand on them.</p><p>It was a little unbalanced and it felt awkward, but it didn’t hurt. Brown sighed in relief. “Thanks, Red. That helped a lot."</p><p>Red smiled shyly underneath his helmet as the group of crewmates left the medbay, looking for Orange. Brown, White, and Cyan left together, going south into decontamination. Brown struggled with the crutches, but didn’t say anything. White and Cyan were patient, walking slow enough that Brown could keep up. Nevertheless Brown kept pushing themselves, trying to go faster so that the other two wouldn’t have to wait.</p><p>Brown panted heavily as Cyan opened up the door to the Specimen Room. She looked around the room, not seeing anything―</p><p>Behind the desk, Brown could see a pool of blood slowly spreading. She didn’t bother to use her crutches, falling over and practically crawling around the desk where Orange’s mauled body laid. Cyan and White were morbidly quiet as Brown quietly sobbed, clutching her stomach.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>haha suffer</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Symbiotic</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>NIJSFBHKJSnvskld 200 hits??? I'm gonna cry aaaAaaA</p>
<p>For this, there's a little gift at end end of the chapter &gt;:)</p>
<p>Also should I add chapter names? I'm thinkin' about it but I'm not good at them :v</p>
<p>oh yeah!! anddddddd a warning for gore and mature language because we all love that &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Brown sat there for a few minutes while White and Cyan used the radios to alert everyone else to Orange’s death. Brown kept her head down, arms clutching her stomach like she was hugging herself, trying to get some semblance of comfort.</p>
<p>Quietly, Brown’s suspicion of Blue grew. The second Cyan was gone, Orange went ‘missing?’ Maybe Red was in on it as well… It was too much of a coincidence. But the rest of the crew trusted them… Maybe she could convince White and Cyan separately? One thing was for sure: Brown wasn’t going to let anyone else get hurt here. Not if she could help it.</p>
<p>By the time the other crewmates arrived, Brown still hadn’t recovered, sitting next to Orange. Another person had died. Another person wouldn’t be going home.</p>
<p>Cyan and White glanced at each other, sorrow practically radiating off of the two of them. White’s promise to Cyan had already been broken, and now there was one less person to suspect. Cyan’s stomach turned as they looked down at Orange. Their face had been ripped open, like claws had raked themselves across their face.</p>
<p>“This confirms it,” Blue said. “It’s a parasite causing the murder of the crew."</p>
<p>“How does the parasite work?” Purple said quietly.</p>
<p>“It-It’s not really a parasite, because it isn’t a parasitic relationship between the two organisms. We just call it that because of its effects.” Blue started. “The two organisms both benefit from the relationship, the parasite gets a place to live and be safe and gets fed by the human. The human gains almost transformative abilities, though we aren’t sure how it works yet. Unfortunately, for the parasite to work, it… feeds off of humans. Not its host, of course. The host consumes human flesh and digests it to feed to the parasite."</p>
<p>“That’s fuckin’ disgusting.” White said. “What kind of…” He cut himself off, walking away as he muttered under his breath.</p>
<p>Brown looked up at Blue, eyes narrowed in suspicion. “How do you know so well?"</p>
<p>“They give us the information before we leave, but the parasites are extremely rare. There’s only ever been one recorded case, which is where we got the information from.”</p>
<p>Red nodded, agreeing. “I got the info too, but only Blue and I got it. They don’t like to worry the crewmates."</p>
<p>“Damn, sure would be unfortunate if we got worried.” Brown said with a weary and nervous laugh. “Heh, wouldn’t that suck if we thought that we might be in danger. F-Fuck this dumb mission,"</p>
<p>“Well, look on the bright side!” Yellow commented. “Um…"</p>
<p>“Yeah, there’s not much of a bright side to Orange being murdered.” Purple said.</p>
<p>“I’m trying, okay?” Yellow responded. “We can figure this out. We’ll all be okay."</p>
<p>“Yellow’s right. We have to keep on going, even if we’re scared. We can’t turn on each other, as much as we want to.” Pink continued. “We have to think smart about this. We’re all in danger until we get off this planet."</p>
<p>Blue nodded. “That’s right. We should continue staying in groups."</p>
<p>“I’m not going with Blue or Red.” Brown quickly commented.</p>
<p>Everybody stared at Brown for a second. “Why not?” Blue asked.</p>
<p>“You’ve been suspicious from the start. I’m not risking my life for you."</p>
<p>Blue shook his head. “Fine. Cyan, you go with Brown and figure out where White went.” He grabbed Brown’s crutches from the floor and handed them to her. She snatched them away, trying to stand up but only succeeding with Cyan’s help.</p>
<p>The two of them separated from the rest of the group, looking for White. Brown’s first thought was that White had already been murdered, but she pushed the thought out of her head.</p>
<p>Blue watched Cyan and Brown leave, shaking his head. “I wish I could say I don’t understand why she’s suspicious of me…” Blue said, looking to the rest of the group.</p>
<p>“Don’t worry, Blue.” Pink said. “Yellow and I trust you.” Yellow nodded excitedly as she spoke.</p>
<p>“Thank you.” Blue said with a smile. “Purple, can you help Pink and Yellow clean this up?” He said with a more somber tone. “Treat Orange with respect, please. It’s the least they can get."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Brown huffed in exhaustion as Cyan waited a few feet ahead. The crutches were starting to hurt Brown, jabbing into her arms as she walked. Unfortunately, every time she tried to walk without them she almost immediately collapsed. It was just a sprain… Why did it hurt so bad?</p>
<p>They finally spotted White as he aligned the nodes outside. Brown grunted in annoyance as she followed Cyan over towards him. The darkness on Polus felt overwhelming despite the lights outside.</p>
<p>“There you are,” Cyan said with a relieved sigh, walking over to White. “You shouldn’t have just walked away from the rest of us. You could have gotten yourself…"</p>
<p>“Killed?” White finished Cyan’s sentence. “I know. But… After hearing Blue…"</p>
<p>“You should have been more careful.” Brown scolded, but they could all hear the undertone of worry underneath her stern voice. “We’re all upset right now."</p>
<p>“As long as I stick with you two, I’m convinced that I’m safe.” White said. “I trust both of you with my life."</p>
<p>“Thanks, White.” Cyan said, smiling under their helmet. “We should try and finish our tasks. If we finish them, then maybe we can convince Blue to get us off this hellhole."</p>
<p>“Alright.” Brown said, struggling to pull out their tablet with their arms inhibited by the crutches. “I’ve got... “ She took a second to breathe before continuing. “Damn my ankle. I’ve got to refuel the engines. Looks like it starts in Storage first."</p>
<p>“I’ve got something near Storage, so let’s go over there. Besides, we’re pretty close.” Cyan said.</p>
<p>The three of them walked towards the small room, and Brown sighed as she struggled to fill up the container. She couldn’t stop spilling the gas until White helped her.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry, White. I’m just keeping you two from doing your work right."</p>
<p>“Don’t talk like that,” White said gently. “You’re a big help."</p>
<p>Brown nodded, but couldn’t help but disagree. Cyan was waiting outside for them, having done the node just outside Storage. White finished up with Brown and walked over to Cyan, waiting outside of Storage with the gas container. As Brown followed him, the doors in Storage locked.</p>
<p>No. No. No nononononononono. Fuck this. No.</p>
<p>Brown cried out, banging on the door to the outside as hard as she could. She heard the sound of Cyan and White trying to get inside Storage. Brown whimpered as she heard a noise from the crack in Storage. She looked behind her, but there was nothing. Just a crack in the floor.</p>
<p>In her desperate attempt to escape Storage, Brown instinctively kicked the door, only to land flat on her butt. She whimpered as another sound came from the crack and pushed herself against the door.</p>
<p>Fuck. No. Please don’t let me die. Not now. Not now. Not now. Please please please whatever god there is please save me.</p>
<p>Brown whimpered in relief as the Storage door opened up again. She didn’t say anything as Cyan and White rushed inside, hugging her close. Her breath heaved as she tried to calm herself down.</p>
<p>“Oh my god,” Cyan whispered out. “Are you ok?"</p>
<p>“I’m-I’m fine. I’m fine. I’m okay,” Brown spoke, still unsure if it was actually the truth. “I’m okay."</p>
<p>“What happened?” White asked, holding Brown close and intertwining their fingers.</p>
<p>“I don’t know. I was just coming out and then the door- and then- and-” Brown’s speech came to a stop as she finally shed a few tears. She tried to continue speaking but found herself without words as she silently cried, held by Cyan and White.</p>
<p>“You’re alright,” White said, rubbing his hand along her back. “You’re okay."</p>
<p>“I’m okay,” Brown whispered to herself, leaning into her crewmates.</p>
<p>“How did that happen?” Cyan asked. “I didn’t even know there were doors in Storage."</p>
<p>“Admin.” White said. “Admin controls all the doors. We have to see who’s in Admin.”</p>
<p>Cyan nodded, picking up Brown in a bridal carry. “We’ve got to hurry.” They said. “White, get her crutches."</p>
<p>White did as Cyan said and they rushed over to Admin. Empty.</p>
<p>“Damnit.” Brown said to themselves. “They got out."</p>
<p>Cyan was silent for a second, clearly disappointed. “Well, let’s… Let’s sit down.” Cyan said, panting as they set Brown down. White followed suit, sitting next to Brown and laying the crutches next to them. Cyan sat on the other side of White and leaned on him, breathing heavily. Brown did the same, leaning into White after moving the crutches out of the way.</p>
<p>The last thing Brown saw before she fell asleep was Blue standing above them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Brown woke up with a jolt, hearing a scream that sounded too real to be part of their nightmare. “What? What happened?” She said, looking around. Cyan was breathing heavily, hand on their chest as White attempted to comfort them.</p>
<p>“Cyan had a nightmare.” White said with a somber tone.</p>
<p>“Yeah. They aren’t alone.” Brown muttered, scooting over to Cyan and hugging them gently in an attempt to provide comfort.</p>
<p>“I hate being here.” Cyan said after recovering. “I hate it. I hate it. I hate it."</p>
<p>Brown and White silently nodded in their agreement. “Do you want to talk about your nightmare?” Brown asked. “I heard that can help."</p>
<p>Cyan was quiet for a second. “Y-Yeah. I think… that might help. Brown was… We were back in Storage again and Brown was stuck. But, but when the doors opened, you were… you were…” Cyan’s breath hitched in their throat as they tried to speak.</p>
<p>“It’s alright, Cyan. I’m here now. I’m okay.” Brown said, holding their hand tight. Cyan just nodded, crushing Brown’s hand in their desperation to make sure it was real, but Brown didn’t comment.</p>
<p>White stared at the controls on the Admin panel, thinking as he stood up and walked over to them. With the sensors he could see where people were, but not who it was. There were two people in Weapons, probably Blue and Red. Purple, Yellow, and Pink were probably the ones in the Boiler Room, then. And… there was nobody else. It felt like there were already so few of them, despite the fact that only two had...</p>
<p>White tried to ignore the quiet sobbing of Cyan. Each desperate breath felt like a stab through his heart. So he sat down in front of them, gently rubbing the hand that wasn’t being held by Brown.</p>
<p>A few minutes later Blue and Red wandered in, looking awkward as Brown and White continued to comfort Cyan. They had quieted down now, but were clearly still troubled by their nightmare.</p>
<p>“Did something happen?” Blue asked quietly.</p>
<p>White looked over to the pair, suspicious. “Cyan had a nightmare.” He said, his tone cautious.</p>
<p>“We’re getting together for food. We skipped dinner yesterday because of…” Blue didn’t continue, but it was obviously because Green had died.</p>
<p>White nodded, still holding Cyan’s hand. “We’ll be there soon. Don’t start without us."</p>
<p>The pair left, leaving awkwardness in their wake. “Let’s go eat, Cyan.” White said, pulling them up. Cyan followed them without a word, linking their arms together desperately. Brown grabbed her crutches and followed them, easily keeping up as they slowly walked to the makeshift cafeteria.</p>
<p>
  
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>look!! it's kira :&gt; that picture is her</p>
<p>WOoaAH nobody died in this chapter?? pog</p>
<p>well orange died but that was laSt cHapTer</p>
<p>anyways this chapter is literally just angst. i was actually planning on someone dying this chapter but since i didnt there's gonna be an extra chapter :&gt;</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Reports</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>a warning for vomiting and bad adult words &gt;:(</p><p>ive got three hundred hits on this story and i. i cant</p><p>i also tried a new editing style so tell me if you like it or if it's bad</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>In the cafeteria, the group was quiet. Nobody else had gone missing, thank goodness. Brown laid the crutches down behind her, silently eating the food that Pink had prepared for them. Had it really only been 24 hours? Just 24 hours, and two people were already… dead. Dead. It didn’t seem real. None of it did.</p><p>Nobody thought it was worth the effort to cut through the awkward silence. White didn’t even bother to eat anything, instead holding onto the hands of Cyan and Brown.</p><p>Brown didn’t eat much either, but she tried to eat what she could. Even though she hadn’t eaten dinner yesterday, Brown found that food wasn’t very good when everyone around you could be a murderer.</p><p>Unlike everybody else at the table, Cyan was eagerly wolfing down their food. Clearly the lack of food had made an effect on them. Their plastic tray was empty in what felt like just a few seconds. Brown was curious as to why they seemed so unaffected while everyone else was content with keeping the somber mood. She shoved down the immediate thoughts of suspicion, instead trying to force herself to eat the food.</p><p>Yellow was having trouble staying still in their seat, practically vibrating with energy. Brown glared at them a little bit before remembering that nobody could see her face other than the small amount of their helmet that was open for them to eat through. </p><p>Yellow finally stood up, taking their tray with them and unceremoniously throwing it into the small sink in the cafeteria. They rocked on their heels for a few seconds, clearly impatient and unwilling to wait for their partners.</p><p>“I’ve gotta pee.” Yellow finally spouted out before bolting away. Brown looked at the hallway they left through for a second, but didn’t say anything, instead tightening their grip on White’s hand.</p><p>“S-Sorry if the food was bad.” Pink finally said, pushing said food around with their fork.</p><p>“It was great, Pink.” Purple smiled. “Thanks for making us food.”</p><p>“It is my job,” Pink chuckled a little bit, rubbing their arm nervously. “Thanks anyway, Purple.” She was quiet for a second before continuing. “I feel like… like we should be doing something instead of just… sitting here. Waiting for the murderer to get another one of us.”</p><p>Brown silently nodded, but didn’t speak up.</p><p>“What are we supposed to do?” Purple nervously laughed out. “We have no idea who it might be.”</p><p>“We have some idea.” Brown muttered, thinking nobody would hear her.</p><p>“It’s not me, Brown.” Blue said. “I know you don’t trust me, but I’m the leader of this mission and I would give my life for all of you.”</p><p>“The rest of us wouldn’t!” Brown suddenly yelled out. “We didn’t sign up to be fodder for some alien creature! We thought this was just going to be routine, but now we’re being murdered for the sake of helping some maniac. We’re all,” Brown started laughing almost crazily, tears leaking again. “We’re all going to die here, aren’t we?” She said, putting her head in her hands.</p><p>Everyone at the table was silent as White quietly rubbed Brown’s back, trying to give them some semblance of comfort. “We’ll be okay,” He whispered, glancing up at Blue. “Right?”</p><p>“Right.” Blue nodded. “Maybe we should just stay in one group. It’d be a hassle, but it’d be a lot safer.”</p><p>Cyan shook their head. “I don’t think so. I feel like it’d be even more dangerous, honestly. After all, what if the killer just starts getting desperate and kills people out in the open?”</p><p>Blue was quiet for a second. “I didn’t think of that. Do you think they’d risk getting caught?”</p><p>“Well, the parasite gives them transformative abilities, right? What if they could change themselves to be stronger, or even…” Cyan shuddered. “What if they pretended to be someone else?”</p><p>Everyone looked around the table, flinching when Yellow finally came back.</p><p>“Oh, thank god.” White said with a relieved sigh as Yellow sat down at the table again.</p><p>“Did something happen?” Yellow asked, turning their head curiously like a dog would.</p><p>“We were just discussing strategies.” Blue answered. “We still can’t figure out what to do.”</p><p>“If we continue in our groups, then everyone should be safe. That’s the theory, at least.” White said. “But clearly whoever’s the murderer isn’t afraid of taking huge risks.”</p><p>“They’re also smart.” Cyan continued. “They used the admin map to lock Brown in Storage, but didn’t bother to attack her, even though they might have gotten away with it. They’re…”</p><p>“They’re playing with us.” Brown finished, shuddering. “They think this is some sort of <em> game </em>.”</p><p>Everybody was silent yet again, shifting uncomfortably in the new information.</p><p>“I don’t… I don’t understand.” Brown said with a nervous laugh. “Why is this happening to us? Why is this happening to me?”</p><p>Nobody bothered to answer her, and Blue silently got up, discarding of their plastic tray in the sink. They grabbed Red’s hand, who did the same. “Let’s continue working on our tasks. The mission still hasn’t magically disappeared.” Blue said with a determined stance.</p><p>Brown scoffed as Red and Blue left. “Yeah, it’s important that we stock up the base so the next group can suffer just as much.”</p><p>“When we get back to Earth, we won’t let that happen. I promise you, Brown.” Purple said. “This place… it’s awful. Nobody deserves to have to be here.”</p><p>Cyan suddenly stood up. “Blue said there was only one recorded case of the parasite.”</p><p>“Yeah?” Yellow said. “What about it?”</p><p>“What about, y’know… cases where nobody got home? Or just one person? Or half the crew was missing?”</p><p>“Oh, god.” Brown said. “What if…” She stood up too. “The files on the previous missions should be in Admin or the Office, right?”</p><p>“Yeah. Let’s go check.” Cyan said, barely waiting for Brown to get their crutches set up.</p><p>The group of them left for Admin first, quickly arriving. White went through the files while the rest waited anxiously. “They aren’t here. Let’s check the Office.”</p><p>So they moved over to the Office, still panicked in their realization. Blue and Red hadn’t been seen in some time.</p><p>White looked through the files on the computer, scanning the confusing interface while the others nervously kept watch.</p><p>They all turned around when they heard White gasp. A folder simply titled “crews” was open, with almost… was that twenty files? That couldn’t be right. Twenty crews had been sent to Polus? How long had this base been here?</p><p>White opened the first file. The folder opened up, showing reports, with the titles saying when they had been made and who made them. As White scrolled down, he clicked on the last report.</p><p>“Day 23 of the mission.” It started out. “Blue reporting here. Everything has gone as planned, and the suspected alien life has been confirmed. We used the materials provided to start the base, and hopefully the next crew will be able to finish it. I will be bringing a sample of the alien life back to Earth on the ship back.”</p><p>There was a comment in red underneath, clearly by someone who wasn’t from the mission.</p><p>“SHIP CRASHED ON LANDING. NO BODIES DISCOVERED. ALL ASSUMED DEAD.”</p><p>The entire group was suddenly sobered by the realization. The alien life… Did they bring the parasite with them? Did it end up killing everyone on that ship?</p><p>“It’s possible something else happened.” Yellow suggested. “I mean, it’s space. Things go wrong all the time.”</p><p>White clicked out of the file, going to the folder of the second crew and clicking on the second report.</p><p>“Day 20 of the mission. This is Red. We have completed all that we were assigned, but unfortunately there were four casualties. Only Yellow and I will be returning.”</p><p>Another comment in red.</p><p>“SHIP NEVER RETURNED. ALL ASSUMED DEAD.”</p><p>Brown shivered. “No, Yellow’s gotta be right. Go to the next one.”</p><p>“Are you sure—” White began, only to be interrupted.</p><p>“Just do it!” Brown said, voice strained. White didn’t comment, understanding that they were all under stress. He silently clicked on the next file and then clicked on the last report.</p><p>“Day 19 of the mission. This is Purple. I will be the only one returning.”</p><p>“MISSION SUCCESSFUL.”</p><p>“Oh, god.” Purple said, holding his hand up to their mouth like they were about to throw up. “That’s… They couldn’t have thought that was a coincidence. Right?”</p><p>“If they didn’t, then they clearly didn’t care.” Brown said, anger clear in her voice.</p><p>White didn’t need any encouragement to go to the next crew’s last report, not commenting as he opened the next one.</p><p>“Day 17 of the mission. Just me left. I won’t be returning.”</p><p>There was nothing else. They didn’t even mention their code name.</p><p>“I think that’s enough.” Cyan said.</p><p>“Look at the day numbers.” Purple said. “The time it took kept on getting shorter.”</p><p>Pink looked at the computer for a few seconds before turning away. They took off their helmet before throwing up violently all over the floor.</p><p>“Pink!” Yellow said, rushing over and helping them stand back up straight. “Are you ok?”</p><p>“I-I’m fine. Just… just a second.” Pink said, walking out into the dark night of Polus.</p><p>“I’ll go make sure they’re safe.” Yellow said, following them.</p><p>White shook his head. “I’m gonna go check out Admin, see where Blue and Red are. They need to know about this.”</p><p>Cyan, Purple, and Brown nodded in understanding. “Should we keep looking at the reports?” Cyan asked. “Maybe we should try and figure out… how doomed we are.”</p><p>“Yes, we’ll need to figure out more information so that we can learn from the mistakes of others, and not our own.” Purple said, opening up the next crew’s folder. “Look, this one lasted longer than the other crew.” Purple continued, pointing at the text from the last report. It had been 20 days. “Let’s look through the other reports. Clearly they did something different.”</p><p>As they looked through the other reports, it seemed that there had already been one parasite discovered and removed. Because there was a neurosurgeon acting as the crew’s doctor, they managed to safely remove the parasite without injuring the host. Unfortunately, the second host wasn’t so lucky. Only two people returned.</p><p>“Well, we don’t have a neurosurgeon.” Brown laughed. “Green was supposed to be the crew’s doctor, and they specialized in… I don’t know, something that wasn’t a brain? It doesn’t matter. They’re dead now.”</p><p>“The parasites are getting smarter.” Cyan commented. “They’re learning, just like we are.”</p><p>“Man, isn’t alien life great?” Purple hissed out.</p><p>“How did they even discover who the first host was?” Cyan asked.</p><p>“They slipped up.” Purple said, reading the report. “The host transformed, climbing into the cracks in the base while someone was watching. It was obvious they weren’t human anymore.”</p><p>“The cracks?” Brown said. “When I was stuck in Storage, I heard noises coming from a crack in the ground.”</p><p>“Brown… You could have been killed.” Cyan said. “It was more than just paranoia. You could have legitimately been murdered. You could have…”</p><p>“In the report, it says the parasite’s host could still fully control themselves.” Purple started. “The first host—the one that was cured—said that while they could do whatever they wanted, the parasite was like a second consciousness. They didn’t think that they could have been infected by an alien. They just… thought it was them. So they did it.” </p><p>“The host even said that the longer they went without eating, the worse the parasite got.” Purple shifted uncomfortably in their seat. “The… strange murmurs slowly became yells in their head, and they got desperate. That’s why they got caught.”</p><p>“So… what happens if we starve the parasite?” Cyan asked.</p><p>“What if the person just doesn’t bother being sneaky then?” Brown said. “What if they just attack someone in broad daylight? What if they can’t control themselves?”</p><p>“Brown’s right, but…” Purple hesitated, eyes glancing over the file again. “I think that might be our best shot. If they do try and attack someone, we can still overpower them, and hopefully help whoever was injured.”</p><p>“Then we’ll tell Blue our plan.” Cyan said. “It’s the best one we’ve got so far.”</p><p>A minute later, Yellow returned, their helmet off. “Pink is okay. They just need some alone time. She should be safe, I think.”</p><p>Brown, Purple, and Cyan all gave each other speculating looks. One of them was about to speak up when they heard approaching footsteps from Admin.</p><p>“Red and Blue are in Security.” White noted, walking up to the group. “Where’s Pink?”</p><p>“She just wanted to be alone.” Yellow said.</p><p>“That’s incredibly dangerous.” Purple said. “We need to go check on her.” They said, standing up.</p><p>“They’re fine, really.” Yellow said, trying to stop the others from walking out but failing.</p><p>White led the way, immediately heading to a node that was sticking out from their ground. The rest of the group followed, Yellow nervously trailing behind.</p><p>They all went silent when they saw what remained of Pink’s body.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  
</p><p> </p><p>
  
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The lovely vanessa-joy0114 on tumblr made some amazing art for this fic and I'm literally dYinG it's so good and cute and perfect??</p><p>i also really appreciate your comments!! talking to yall is fun &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Scapegoat</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I know, it's a super short chapter but I wanted to get this angst in here before I kill off the next person.</p><p>Also, guys just... PLEASE. I LOVE HEARING YOUR THEORIES THEY ARE SO AMAZING AND GREAT. GIVE ME MORE SO I CAN BE VAGUE IN MY ANSWERS</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“It wasn’t me.” Yellow immediately spouted out. The entire group looked at him. His words clearly didn’t affect them much.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You were last seen with them. It’s obviously you, Yellow.” Purple said. “We can’t risk our lives just for you to hurt another one of us.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No—Please, you have to believe me. I didn’t hurt Pink, I would never hurt her.” Yellow practically begged, getting on his knees. “Please, please please please. Purple, you’ve been with me the entire time. Please, you know it’s not me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yellow, you know how this looks.” Purple said sternly, shaking their head. “White, go call an emergency meeting.” White nodded, rushing off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The alarm blared away as Yellow silently leaked tears, still begging for mercy. “P-Please, it… it wasn’t me. Please!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Blue and Red approached, silent in their shock as they looked at the corpse of Pink. She had been viciously ripped apart, bits of her limbs scattered here and there. Her head and torso were both completely missing. Her helmet lay shattered on the ground.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It was Yellow.” Purple said, completely calm. “They were alone with Pink and returned alone. We have to kick them into the volcano.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you sure?” Red asked, but Blue shook their head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s put it to a vote.” Blue said. “All in favor of throwing out Yellow?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Blue, Purple, White, Brown, and Cyan all raised their hands, though Brown and Cyan did it reluctantly. Only Red sided with Yellow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No.” Yellow said desperately as Purple and White grabbed them, shoving them closer to the lava. “No, please, I saw who really did it!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, sure.” Purple said. “We aren’t dumb. I wish you hadn’t done this.” Purple shook their head in disapproval. “Pink was our crewmate, and you killed them, Yellow.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please! It was—” Yellow cried out, only to be cut off as Purple shoved him off the cliff. His screams wrenched Brown’s heart, and she walked away as fast as she could, still inhibited by her crutches. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m so sorry, Yellow.” Brown whispered to herself as she entered the medbay, sitting down on one of the beds. She quietly applied more medicine to her foot before wrapping it in clean bandages, gently applying pressure. It hurt, but she didn’t collapse. Brown made a note to herself to avoid running with her ankle like this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She sat in the medbay for a while, pondering what had just happened. She quickly pulled off her helmet and limped over to the trash before spewing out her lunch. “Shit.” She coughed out, wiping away the remains on her mouth. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She sat back down with a nervous laugh, holding her head in her hands and not even bothering to put her helmet back on. Yellow’s screams echoed through her mind and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Brown silently sobbed in the medbay, the noise bouncing off the walls.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The door opened, Cyan standing in the doorway. “Hey, Brown.” They said, pulling off their own helmet when they noticed Brown’s lack of one. They sat down next to Brown, rubbing their back gently in an attempt to comfort them. “I… I didn’t want Yellow to die, either.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t understand.” Brown said, laughing through her sorrow. “Why do we have to keep killing people? Why can’t we just go back to Earth and scan everybody for the parasite?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know, Brown.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“...”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“...”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can still hear his screams.” Brown finally said, breaking through the silence. “They’re so terrifying. He… I just know it wasn’t him. It couldn’t have been him?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who could it have been then?” Cyan said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Red? Blue?” Brown suggested, desperate for an answer. “They’ve been suspicious since the beginning.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know it was Yellow, Brown. It was awful that he had to die, but now we’re all safe.” Cyan said in their attempt to comfort Brown. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can’t help but think it wasn’t them. It seemed so real…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s ok.” Cyan whispered. “Shh… calm down, calm down.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two of them were silent for a while, Brown quietly sobbing in the medbay. Cyan leaked a few tears as well, but tried to keep it hidden. They leaned into each other, keeping each other tethered to reality. They held each other's hands, trying to provide some sort of comfort. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They were close to falling asleep there when Red came in. “It’s dinner time.” He said, trying to keep his voice from wavering.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The three of them left together, entering the cafeteria for the second time that day. There were two less people. Now that Pink was gone, who had cooked the food?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Brown took her first bite of the food and immediately spit it back out. “Oh my god. Who made this?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Blue shuffled nervously. “I’m not very good at cooking.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s obvious.” Brown scoffed, though she tried to keep her tone light and joking. She took another bite, now prepared for the… rather unsavory taste that accompanied the weird mashed potatoes and gravy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The rest of the crew clearly weren’t enjoying Blue’s meal either, but Red tried his best to pretend. “It’s really good Blue!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t have to pretend, Red.” Blue said, chuckling. “I appreciate it, but I know I’m not very good.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It was worth a try.” Red sighed, going back to eating. Everyone had taken their helmets off except Blue, who was still trying to stick to the rules. It wasn’t working very well, though. Even Red had taken his helmet off so he could actually eat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“When can we go home?” Cyan quietly asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“When we’re done with our tasks.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right, because the mission is so important.” Brown said with a glare. “Is it important enough that we all die, Blue?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We don’t have to worry about that anymore.” Purple said, completely confident.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why so confident?” White said, clearly suspicious.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because, it just makes sense. Yellow killed Pink. We killed Yellow.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Brown flinched at the last statement, still not completely over Yellow’s death. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Purple’s right. We don’t have to worry about that.” Blue said, finally taking off their helmet after realizing it wasn’t worth the effort to keep it on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah…” Brown hesitated as she spoke, before suddenly perking up. “My ankle’s better now! It still hurts, but I don’t have to use those stupid crutches anymore.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s great!” White said, smiling. “Thank goodness. I could tell those crutches were hurting you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.” Brown chuckled, scratching the back of her head. “I hate crutches and I hope I never have to use them again.” She said with a sigh of relief.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The team was still tense, but certainly more calm now that they were safe. So they stayed at the dinner table for quite some time. Blue was the first to leave, claiming they all still had tasks to work on. Red left soon after, agreeing with Blue. Purple was next to leave, silent as they did so.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>White got up to leave, but Brown grabbed their hand. “Please don’t leave.” She whimpered. White was confused, but sat back down. “Thank you.” Brown said, leaning into White. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The three of them sat there for some time, calm. The other three would occasionally walk by them, and sometimes Blue would remind them to get to their tasks, as they were almost done, but Brown didn’t bother responding, letting White speak for them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just let them relax, Blue.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So they sat there until finally the lights started blinking black and white, signaling it was almost time for lights out. The three of them stood up, walking into their respective rooms to sleep in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Brown woke up, getting out of her bed. The hall looked endlessly long one way, but she didn’t say anything. She was supposed to be the only one in the female bunker, but Pink was sitting on the bed next to the door. She was kicking her legs in the air, looking down at her feet, where her shattered helmet lay. Brown still couldn’t see her face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She walked a few steps closer. “Pink? Are you okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pink looked up at Brown and screeched, making Brown cover her ears.. Her mouth was malformed, her face torn up, even worse than Orange’s, skin as pale as a vampire. “Why did you do it?” Pink screamed, voice distorted. “Why did you hurt them? Why did you hurt me? Why did you kill Yellow? It was your fault!” The voice sounded almost demonic, loud enough to make Brown get down to her knees and desperately cover her ears, trying to block out the voice that now seemed to be coming from her own head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your fault. Your fault. Your fault.” Voices around Brown whispered into her ear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your fault.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your fault.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your fault.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“...My fault.” Brown whispered to herself. “I’m sorry!” She finally screamed out. “Please, please I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to! I didn’t want to! I’m so sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry…”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Brown was still whispering to herself when she was shaken awake by Red. “I’m sorry!” She cried out as she finally woke up from her nightmare, instinctively covering her ears.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Brown, are you okay?” Red asked. Brown adjusted to her surroundings, realizing that it had… it was just a dream. Just a dream.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t… Yeah, I think I’m okay.” She said, voice wavering.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That looked like a pretty bad nightmare.” Purple commented, their face showing some sign of emotion. They were clearly worried for Brown.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-It was.” Brown shuddered, remembering it. “But I’m… I’m okay now. I think.” She looked around, embarrassed when she realized the entire crew was there to see her nightmare. “Sorry if I woke anyone.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We were just wondering where you were. You didn’t come out.” Cyan said. “I’m glad you’re okay.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.” Brown rubbed her arm as she spoke. “Let’s just… just, go work on our tasks.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you’re sure you’re okay,” White said, eyebrows furrowed in concern.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m alright,” Brown chuckled nervously as she stood up, slightly limping on her still injured ankle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay.” Blue nodded. Nobody was wearing their helmet anymore. What was the point? “Let’s all go work on our tasks and get home safe.” Blue gave a winning smile as they spoke, walking out soon after.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Brown followed them, as did everybody else. She practically laughed out loud as she pulled out her tablet for the first time in what seemed like forever. Back to normal? Did that even exist anymore? She quickly realized she had never completed the engine refuels, so she decided to start with that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She limped over to Storage, filling up a container and then dumping it into the further engine, repeating it with the closer one. Already finished a task! This… This was going to be easy. </span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Right?</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Oh, by the way... I have school tomorrow, which I've been regretting this whole weekend... I have no idea if I'm gonna keep up with my current daily schedule. Hopefully I still can.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Red</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>oK SO</p><p>I did not update daily</p><p>I rewrote this chapter four different times and I'm still not super satisfied with this one but I feel really bad for not getting it out for a week... So yeah</p><p>If it makes you feel better I did spend the week drawing all of them!! You can check it out here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1RQtKmEX_BT0_H35SCaf1ehgqqFz2Z6TZ?usp=sharing</p><p>(Yes I know it's a google drive folder but desperate times call for desperate measures)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Red looked around the room, swearing that he could hear the sound of something crawling underneath the floor, slithering between the cracks, just waiting for him to drop his guard and then snatch him away where the rest of the crewmates would never find him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe Red had an active imagination.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He took a deep breath, walked into O2 and went to the computer attached to that weird tree. Who really knew how this thing worked? Red certainly didn’t. Nevertheless, he turned on the computer and matched the sliders on the screen to the assigned numbers. Another task done. He clicked the checkmark on his tablet for the task he had just done and then left the O2 room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Red stopped when he heard… something? He wasn’t entirely sure what that noise was, but it set him on edge. He stood still for a few seconds when he heard it again. It reminded him of a rattlesnake, preparing to attack him. He glanced around, trying to figure out where the noise was coming from. He turned around, looking back into the O2 room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Red suddenly jumped at the sound of footsteps behind him, but it was just Purple walking over, tablet in hand. Their helmet was nowhere to be seen, showing their rather confused face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you alright, Red?” They asked, tilting their head in worry and curiosity.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m fine, just… nervous. Worried.” He replied back with a sigh, leaning against the wall. “I know that, logically, we’re safe. We should be fine. But…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I feel that way too.” Purple responded. “Just… man, I hate space now. I think I’m quitting after this.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Blue and I were planning on quitting even before the mission started.” Red slid down the wall, sitting down on the metal ground. Purple joined him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I vote that once we make it back home, we make sure nobody gets sent to Polus, ever, ever, </span>
  <em>
    <span>ever</span>
  </em>
  <span> again.” Purple said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s for sure.” Red chuckled, looking at Purple. “Do you… do you have any family back home?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not married, but all my siblings and parents are still alive. I’m the oldest, actually. I was taking care of my parents before I decided to go to college. They… aged fast, and I wasn’t prepared. So now the youngest is taking care of the family.” Purple chuckled, looking embarrassed. “I bet after this finally ends, we’ll all become famous.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you want to be famous?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Purple scoffed. “No. Being famous sucks, but you just know when it’s going to happen. People will need to know about your personal life and everyone will treat you like some kind of god because of luck or coincidence.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How do you know?” Red asked, suddenly curious. He nervously twiddled with his fingers, glancing to and from Purple.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t, I guess. But you see the way actors are treated, that kind of stuff.” Purple bounced their knee restlessly. “I just… I can’t help but wonder how the families of everyone else are going to react. I mean, Yellow was a person too, before they became infected. Orange, and Green, and Pink, they all knew people. Then they left and… they never got the chance to come back.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Red didn’t respond, unsure what to say. Purple was right. Polus… the HQ. The people at HQ sent a team of crew members to Polus, to their death. Knowing it was dangerous. Slowly, Red’s sorrow was replaced with fury.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come on, let’s get our tasks done.” Red said, voice shaking as he used his hand to push himself off the ground. “The sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can make sure nobody ever comes here again.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Purple nodded, standing up. “I’ll see you on the other side.” They said with a grin before walking off. Red smiled back, standing there for a few seconds before realizing they were alone. He sighed, putting his hand over his head and ruffling his hair. Now that he had talked to Purple, his nerves had finally calmed down. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Red walked into the boiler room, almost immediately starting to sweat as they did. Small puffs of steam came through the tiniest holes in the pipes, and Red pulled at his suit, trying to escape the heat. He took out the container of clean water from the room, walking out as he tried desperately not to drop the heavy jug. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He left the boiler room and walked outside, past Weapons, and into the office, replacing the empty jug with the clean one. He was about to go put it back on the boiler when he heard a noise. The exact same one he had heard in Oxygen. He turned around, seeing another crack in the floor.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ok, it’s just a weird noise on an alien planet. It’s going to be… fine.” Red said, trying to comfort himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It didn’t help.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He slowly walked towards the noise, trying to forget that dumb saying about a cat dying because of curiosity. He wondered if it was because they were in his exact scenario.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>And so thirty minutes later Red was throwing up onto the purple dirt outside. He coughed out the last of the waste, panting heavily. What kind of fever made him go from normal temperatures to one hundred in just thirty minutes? He staggered over into the laboratory, head pounding. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Red almost fell on his way into the lab, cursing silently to himself as he picked himself up from the half-crouched position he found himself in. He stood there for a few seconds, leaning on the counter and panting. His vision spun and swirled around as his stomach did flips. He could feel vomit slowly building up again, and he walked over to the sink, throwing up again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>How did he get here? The last thirty minutes were a blur and Red couldn’t remember anything except going up to that crack in the floor and then… did he pass out or something? Did the imposter attack him? He grunted in effort as he used his hands to keep himself up, looking around the medbay and desperately dragging himself onto the beds.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Red did what he could to try and think rationally, but his mind and stomach were both swirling around inside him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ok, my symptoms…” Red whispered to himself, his breathing still labored. “I… am fatigued, obviously. Memory… is not working right. And, urgh, general nausea. So… food poisoning? Except all the food on Polus has been frozen and then cooked before eating… I don’t know how food poisoning works.” Red chuckled, his hand to his chest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Red reached around for his tablet, still somehow held in a pocket on the side of his suit. He pulled it out, blinking his eyes quickly in an attempt to get them to work right. His gloved hand tapped heavily on the screen as he called for his crewmates to come meet him in the medbay. He definitely needed medical attention, he certainly couldn’t do it himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>White was first into the medbay, looking at Red, who was holding their head in their hands, trying not to throw up again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Red? What happened?” Brown said, following White inside of the medbay. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sick, or something.” Red lifted his head, blinking at the bright lights that he had been covering his eyes from. “Very… very badly.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You looked fine just an hour ago!” Brown commented, leaning down next to Red and feeling his forehead. “Oh, you’re burning up. This is a terrible fever.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fever? But I thought I had food poisoning…” Red mumbled, putting his hand up to his forehead as well.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Careful, Brown.” White said, keeping his distance. “You could get sick.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s our duty to care for our crewmate.” Brown said matter-of-factly. “What do you remember last, Red?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, stumbling from outside into the medbay…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Before that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was in the office.” Red winced, realizing quite a bit of time must have passed from the time he was in the office to when he stumbled into the medbay.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Blue walked into the medbay as Red spoke, worry ingrained on his face as he sped over to him. “Red? Are you okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s not.” Brown answered for him, looking over her shoulder at the captain. “He’s got an awful fever, and thought he had food poisoning too. Is it possible for the food at the base to cause this?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Frozen food doesn’t cause any food poisoning.” Blue said, shaking his head. “It’s gotta be something else. Red, what made you think you have food poisoning?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have no idea where I’ve been and I can barely walk.” Red laughed out, sweat dripping down his face. “And all the lights hurt my eyes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That would make sense with food poisoning, but as I mentioned, all the food is frozen. It’s simply not possible.” Blue repeated, turning around as Purple entered the medbay, followed by Cyan.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What happened to Red?” Cyan asked, walking towards the group as Purple lingered back with White.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Red’s sick with something and we’ve got no clue what it is.” Brown answered for Cyan, getting up and looking through the medbay for antibiotics.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you think it’s an alien disease?” Red asked, tilting his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The symptoms are similar to symptoms you would get from a fever or cold, so I don’t think so. Probably something carried it onboard.” Cyan said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, because it’s the immune system that causes the symptoms.” Brown interrupted. “The actual disease might be doing something completely differently, but the immune system is causing a fever to flush it out. Therefore, it’s totally probable to be alien.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I… well, I didn’t think of that.” Cyan said, rubbing the back of their neck in nervousness.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.” Brown chuckled as they pulled out a bottle of pills and a container of water. “Here, try this, Red.” She said, handing him the medicine and water.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks, Brown.” He said with a smile as he took the supplied, grabbing two pills and downing them with the water. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now that the ‘crisis’ has been averted,” Purple made finger quotes on the word crisis, “Can we get back to our tasks? It’s just a flu or something. Not a huge deal, and certainly doesn’t warrant an emergency meeting.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Red huffed. “Yeah, I guess I’m good for now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m gonna stay with him.” Blue said, sitting down next to Red. “Make sure he’s alright.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Purple raised an eyebrow, but left without further warning. White glanced at the door they left through before glancing at Brown and Cyan.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Be careful you two.” Brown said, leaving through the door as White and Cyan followed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Just as they left, Red’s headache suddenly worsened tenfold. He bit his tongue in an attempt to delude himself into thinking it wasn’t there, but didn’t even notice as his tongue started to bleed. He groaned in pain, holding his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Red?” Blue asked, grabbing Red’s hand. “What’s happening?”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Consume…</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Red gasped at a sudden stab of pain in the back of his head, his hands becoming fists.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Flesh…</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Red? What’s going on?” Blue asked, noticing the sudden pain.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Eat…</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know!” Red whimpered, flexing his hands in response to the pain that wouldn’t go away.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Feed…</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Red turned to Blue, desperation clinging to his face. “Blue, something’s wrong, I—” He cut himself off, grunting in pain as another sting ran through his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Devour…</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe the medicine made it worse!” Blue said, looking for any reason for this. “Do you need to throw up?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No… I need to…” Red’s voice slowly turned into a growling mess, staring at Blue as inhuman noises came out of his mouth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Red…?” Blue said, standing up and taking a few steps backwards.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, Blue, I— Rngh, I… </span>
  <em>
    <span>I’m hungry…</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Red snarled, his voice changing as he spoke. “No!” Red shouted at himself, shoving his instincts down as he fell off the bed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re the alien. You’ve been infected by the parasite. That’s why you’re so sick.” Blue said, completely still in horror and mouth agape.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Blue I—I promise, I didn’t kill anyone. I haven’t killed anyone. I would never!” Red pleaded, now on all fours.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Blue finally got over their horror, leaning closer to Red and putting his hand on Red’s back. “I believe you, but… the others won’t.” Red was visibly struggling not to lash out at Blue, but Blue didn’t flinch despite the terror evident on their face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ve gotta contain me somehow.” Red grunted out, huffing in effort.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s get you to the specimen room.” Blue said, half picking up Red and leading them through the decontamination doors, locking the doors behind them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Red was continuously trying to force down the parasite inside of him, his teeth clenched in effort as Blue sat him down. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We need to tell the others.” Red spoke through heavy breaths, looking at Blue. “I know they’ll react badly, but we still need to.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Blue nodded. “The doors will be locked, Red. You’re gonna be okay.” He said, giving a pained smile to Red before leaving through decontamination.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Red sat there, huffing as the need to eat slowly faded away.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Grocery List</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Finally got back into the groove of things... Have fun with this chapter! I certainly did ;)</p><p>Oh yeah, um... lots of gore &gt;&gt;</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Blue leaned against the locked door of decontamination, hand on their chest as they tried to calm their breathing. Red… the person he’d known for years and had stuck with for who knows how long, was infected by an alien. Blue had told Red that he believed him when he said he hadn’t killed anyone, but Blue could already feel the doubt creeping in. Red obviously couldn’t control himself, but how long did it take for him to finally lose control? Was it hours?... or days?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Blue’s breathing had finally calmed down, they stood up straight and went to the office, pressing the emergency meeting button. The rest of the crew filed in, clearly annoyed. After all, they had just been in the medbay with Red in a meeting. What had happened in the few minutes since they left that required yet another meeting?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Blue couldn’t care less about their annoyance, still wondering if he should tell the crew what had happened to Red. But they said it needed to happen, and besides, even if they didn’t tell them now, they were certainly going to find out eventually.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Brown’s annoyance slowly faded away into worry as she realized Red was absent. She rationalized that obviously Red would stay in the medbay, but it still made her uncomfortable knowing that he was completely alone right now. Still, she stayed quiet, waiting for Blue to start speaking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“As you all know, Red is sick.” Blue stated, trying to keep their air of authority despite the nerves making their voice shake. “And… I figured out what it was.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ok, get to the point.” Purple huffed, crossing her arms and clearly unentertained.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right. Well, they’ve been infected by the alien parasite.” Blue said, acting as if it was the simplest thing in the world.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It only took a few seconds for chaos to break loose.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>White got </span>
  <em>
    <span>angry</span>
  </em>
  <span>, yelling at Blue. Blue simply took it all as White snarled out his frustrations. Had Red been the one killing everyone? How long had Red been infected?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Purple’s eyes went wide, unsure how to react. They were the one who had pushed Yellow into the lava. Had they killed an innocent man?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cyan was just confused. If Yellow was a killer, but so was Red… was there more than one alien parasite in their crew? How many of them?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Brown was terrified. Red was the co-commander of the ship, and she had trusted him, almost as much as she trusted White or Cyan. He wasn’t quite as cocky or bossy or, well, suspicious as Blue. But he was a murderer, wasn’t he?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Everybody calm down!” Blue yelled out, and they all went silent. “Red hasn’t killed anyone.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How do you know that?” White growled in response.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you had seen them, you would have agreed. Trust me, Red isn’t a killer, and doesn’t deserve to be killed.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where is he right now?” Brown asked. “Are we currently in danger?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I locked him in the specimen room. There’s no way to get out, not even through vents or cracks, so we can finish the mission in complete safety.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What about on the way back?” Cyan nervously twiddled with their fingers. “Are we going to take Red back? Or just leave them here?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We should be able to contain them in the hypersleep pods with safety. Then we can get a proper doctor and cure Red.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why couldn’t we do that with Yellow?” Purple growled, the weight of Yellow’s death still obviously on their shoulders.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We were all panicking, Purple. Now we can think rationally.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, Purple. We were panicking, so it’s okay that someone died.” Brown said, obviously being sarcastic.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” Blue slammed their hands on the table before taking a deep breath, calming himself. “Does anybody have any tasks left in the specimen room?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Everybody at the table was quiet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good. Let’s finish this up so we can go home.” Blue said, standing up straight. “Dismissed.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>White stood at the table for a second, waiting for everybody else to leave, before heading straight towards decontamination and opening the locked door. He closed and locked it behind him, listening to the noise of what he assumed was Red, shuffling around and breathing heavily.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>White walked into the specimen room, looking at Red. They were on their knees, holding their head in their hands and rocking themselves in an attempt to forget the now constant hunger.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You poor thing.” White said, kneeling down to Red. He snarled in response, turning towards White with a mouth too wide and fingers too sharp.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t worry. I’m here to help.” White smiled as he spoke, and Red’s face morphed back to normal.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“White? What are you doing here? Don’t you know it’s dangerous? I could hurt you.” Red’s voice was clearly panicked, eyes wide as he watched the completely calm White.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh please. You couldn’t hurt a fly, even like this.” White chuckled. “I know you didn’t kill those people, you know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Really? You believe me?” Red gave a small smile at the realization before it dropped. “Wait… why? I get why Blue would believe me, but… why you? You have every reason to think I killed them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because I know who actually killed them. Duh.” White said, rolling his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, just because we thought it was Yellow doesn’t mean it’s impossible that it could have been me—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What? No, it wasn’t Yellow. That was just good timing. Well, not for him. For Yellow it was really just unfortunate.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait, Yellow was innocent? But how do you know?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because I was the one who killed them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Red was quiet, staring up at White, who was still looking rather bored. He didn’t seem to realize that this changed Red’s whole perspective, everything he had known about this mission so far. Was White… telling the truth? What reason would he have for lying? What would he have for telling the truth in the first place?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But you were with Brown the entire time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, actually. The cracks in the ground make for rather good travel, you know. It was simple. Turn the lights off, catch someone by surprise, back before curfew.” White chuckled as if it was some kind of joke and not a murder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re joking.” Red almost laughed at the insanity of it all—how had nobody noticed White always disappearing from the group minutes or even seconds before a dead body was found? And then they blamed Yellow…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>White leaned down, extending his hand and beckoning for Red to grab it. “Come on. I’m sure that you must be hungry.” He said the last few words with a grin that Red wasn’t sure he liked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Red scrambled away, and White just sighed in disappointment. “There’s really no point in trying to escape, or whatever you’re doing. I know it sounds cliche, but honestly. I tried.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“H-How long have you been infected?” Red whispered, terror still evident in his eyes though he had gone still.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Almost as soon as we landed on Polus. It didn’t take long to realize what was happening to me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re a monster.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You are too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No.” Red snarled, face contorting in anger. “I’ll never be like you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Even more cliche, honestly.” White rolled his eyes, forcefully grabbing Red’s arm and forcing him out of the specimen room and through decontamination as Red struggled the whole way.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s a good effort, really Red, but it’s not going to work.” White said, unlocking the door out of decontamination and shoving his fellow infected crewmate. Red didn’t even bother to resist, falling onto the carpet in the admin room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You could try a little harder, you know.” White looked disappointed, closing and locking the door to decontamination to avoid suspicion for as long as possible. “Come on.” He said, grabbing the collar of Red’s suit and dragging him out of admin as Red struggled as hard as he could, fighting to escape White’s grasp.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Purple was outside, holding their tablet close as they turned to White and Red. “What in the… White? What’s going on?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Go ahead.” White smirked, dropping Red. “I know you want to.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Red snarled in response, glaring at White before focusing on Purple. His headache—previously a dull ache—felt like it was stabbing through his head now, and Red winced, growling before leaping at Purple. He didn’t even notice his body changing as he ripped open Purple’s suit, nails and teeth becoming sharp enough to rip through the tough fabric. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Purple screamed in agony as Red tore through their torso. Red ate everything he could find, consuming every piece of skin and muscle as bone quickly became visible. He took the chance to rip open Purple’s stomach, tearing out their intestines and quickly devouring them, paying no attention to the blood spilling out onto Red’s suit.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Red didn’t even notice when Purple finally stopped screaming.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Check, Please</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I like this chapter. :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Red was still devouring the remains of Purple when Brown and Cyan walked out of admin. White simply stood there, arms crossed and looking rather pleased. Brown immediately threw up when she saw the mess Red had created, and Cyan looked like they weren’t far from throwing up themselves.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“White? What are you doing?” Cyan yelled. “Stop them!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>White looked back at Cyan, a smirk on his face. “Now, why in the world would I want to do that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cyan’s eyes widened and they took a step back, glancing between the ravenous Red and the clearly delusional White. “What… Purple…” Cyan covered their mouth with a hand in horror, Brown still recovering.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Blue finally came, just as terrified as Cyan. “WHAT DID YOU DO?!” He screamed at White, who looked happier than he had been the entire mission.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Red finally stopped eating the remains of Purple, breathing heavily as they glanced around. A long tongue wiped Red’s mouth in an attempt to clean off the blood that was all over him. His growling breaths slowly became normal again and he stood up, stumbling away from the body.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh no, Purple—no, nonononono I’m so sorry.” Red suddenly started sobbing once he realized what had happened. “No, no I didn’t mean it, please wake up.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Like that’s ever going to happen.” White scoffed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why did you do this?” Red pleaded. “Why did you let me out?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Blue walked over to White, grabbing him by the collar and pulling him close. “What’s wrong with you?” Blue growled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A lot of things, really.” White laughed, his head tipping. “Didn’t you notice?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Blue just shoved White onto the ground, stomping on his chest to keep him down. “Purple was our crewmate! Our friend!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Crewmate, yes. Friend, no. They did murder Yellow, after all. He didn’t deserve to die either.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Brown and Cyan stared down at White, still unsure if this was really the friend they had made while on Polus. After all, both of them had been alone with White multiple times, and yet nobody had thought there was anything out of the ordinary.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait. Did you…” Brown pulled at her collar nervously, unsure if she should continue. “Did you kill… everyone?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>White laughed before grabbing onto Blue’s ankle, easily twisting it the wrong way with a </span>
  <em>
    <span>crack!</span>
  </em>
  <span> Blue and Red both screamed as White shoved Blue off of him and stood up, dusting his suit off nonchalantly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Blue!” Cyan screamed, rushing over to him as well as Red when he landed onto the dirt. Cyan glared at Red, who stopped in their terror and took a few steps back. They were still covered in Purple’s blood.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>White walked over to Brown, who was still standing in her horror, completely quiet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Goodness Brown, you almost look scared. Wouldn’t want that!” White laughed as he got closer to the crewmate. She finally snapped out of her stupor, snarling at White.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Get away from me, you monster.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Words hurt, y’know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s funny.” Brown scoffed, trying to ignore the tears building up in her eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Awww, are you sad little Purple died?” White said, clearly mocking her. “Don’t worry, you’ll see them again.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Brown didn’t respond, instead shoving White with a growl. White was taken aback for just a second before he recovered, back on his two feet. He gripped Brown tight and dragged them closer, mouth transforming and eyes narrowing as his fingers grew longer and his grip was stronger on Brown’s arm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Brown yelped, getting the attention of the others. Red yelled before tackling White to the ground, semi-dried blood getting on White’s suit. It didn’t take long for White to overpower Red, pinning him to the ground and shoving his face into the dirt. Brown watched eagerly, waiting for a chance for her to join the fight and help Red.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She jumped in when White lifted his fist, clearly about to start punching the crewmate below him. White grunted as he was tackled to the ground and pinned beneath Brown.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, I’m soooo scared.” White laughed. “What are you going to do? Pinch me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Brown huffed, realizing he was right. If she got off of him to bring him to the lava, he might overpower her. But she couldn’t just sit there. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She didn’t have to think for long when she realized White’s now inhuman tongue was reaching out towards her and she jumped back, breathing heavily in her shock. White, now free, stood up, grinning sadistically.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Leave her alone, White.” Red snarled, standing in front of the crewmate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>White scoffed. “You want me to leave? Fine, I’ll leave.” He grinned, jumping into one of the nearby cracks and slithering through the tight space, clearly too small for a human but he seemed to fit just fine.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Brown breathed heavily as Red came over to her, trying to comfort her but not succeeding in the slightest. “Get away from me.” Brown said, taking a few steps back as Red approached. He nodded submissively and stopped, watching Cyan try to help Blue. There was little doubt that Blue’s ankle had been broken, but Red had no idea how White had done it with his bare hands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Red looked down at his suit, realizing that it was covered in blood. He shivered, and not from the freezing temperatures. He looked around, heading into the lab for, hopefully, a change of clothes. Cyan and Brown carried Blue in not much after Red had finished changing into a spare black suit, both of them avoiding eye contact with Red.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nice clothes.” Red jumped at the familiar voice, turning around, expecting to see White standing there. There was nothing. Had he imagined that voice? There weren’t any cracks in the ground that White could slip through. Red was getting paranoid again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Was the parasite making him hallucinate? Red huffed, putting a head over his forehead as he noticed the dull ache in his head again. It didn’t help that the black suit was too small in some places and too big in others. The end of his ankles were covered in fabric and the boots clopped around, but the suit could barely stretch over his waist and the sleeves barely reached his wrist.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Red looked back to the three innocents that were gathered in the medbay, trying their best to treat Blue’s foot. Cyan had given him a splint, though they clearly weren’t sure if that’s what they were supposed to do. They also applied ice and messily wrapped up the foot. Cyan and Brown were quietly whispering to themselves, but Red could hear them easily.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What should we do about Red?” Brown whispered, turning away from him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know. He’s dangerous and a liability. I wouldn’t be angry if we just threw him into the lava outside.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I would.” Brown glared at Cyan. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He protected me from White, too. He definitely didn’t want to kill Purple either.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That doesn’t mean he just didn’t kill them. I don’t know if we can risk it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If we just leave him alone, though, White might get to him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We have no idea what he would do to Red after that.” Cyan nodded. “Well, I suppose we should keep an eye on him then. One willing murderer and one unwilling murderer is better than two very angry willing murderers.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can I input my opinion on this?” Blue asked rather loudly, leaning his head up but quickly dropping it after his muscles got tired.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re injured, Blue.” Brown put her hands on her hips. “We have responsibility to keep you safe. You are our captain, after all.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Great, the one time you actually respect me as your captain is when I’m crippled. Joy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cyan chuckled, folding their arms with a cocky smile. “It’s important to keep the captain alive, you know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s also important to listen to them!” Blue grumbled, trying to find a proper position for his hands, making him look rather silly in his attempt to look angry.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Red slowly approached the trio, feeling like he shouldn’t be here. “We should try and leave Polus.” The three crewmates looked at Red. “It only makes sense. If we stay here we’re in serious danger, both from White and… well, me. Blue’s severely injured, and there’s no point in completing tasks if nobody else is going to be coming to Polus.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What makes you think nobody else is coming to Polus?” Blue said, trying to sit up, using his hands to prop himself up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I promised to Purple that I would make sure no more crews were sent here.” Red’s tone was somber, his hands nervously fidgeting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right before you killed them, eh?” Brown growled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s not—that’s not fair.” Red looked down at their feet. “And you know I…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You didn’t want to, but it still happened.” Cyan huffed out. “Let’s just get off this planet, alright? Red is a murderer, yes, but he’s still right. We’re in way too much danger to stay here. If we just leave, we’ll be safe from White. Hopefully he’ll starve or something.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What if we tried to bring White back?” Brown asked. “Like we’re bringing Red.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think that’ll work.” Blue shook his head. “Red is still fighting the parasite, but White has clearly embraced it. I’m not entirely convinced he’s just playing with us right now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Red will be in hypersleep for months. What if when he comes out he’s just like White?” Cyan asked, clearly nervous.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hopefully the chamber will stop the parasite’s infection. If it doesn’t…” Blue didn’t bother to continue. They all knew what he meant.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We need to get the ship ready, but I don’t know how to do that without some serious risk.” Brown finally said, interrupting the silence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If we put me in hypersleep before we take off, we won’t have to worry about me hurting anyone.” Red suggested, tapping his foot in thought. “We could have Blue stay in the ship as well, maybe also in hypersleep. When we come out of hypersleep on Earth his foot might be healed.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s a good point, but what if White sneaks onto the ship?” Brown said. “Cyan and I will either be piloting the ship or also in hypersleep.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Use the cameras.” Blue said. “You can use them in security on the ship, or with my tablet. You can monitor us as well as keep an eye out for White.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He might attack us while we’re in hypersleep.” Brown shook her head. “He could avoid the cameras with the vents onboard as well. He won’t be able to attack you without being caught, but he could still wait until we’re sleeping.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They were all silent for a second, thinking about a good answer for this but finding none.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We might just have to risk it.” Red finally said. “It’s either a risk or certain death.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s try not to be so pessimistic.” Brown chuckled nervously. They all knew Red was right.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come on, let’s get Red and I into hypersleep so we can get outta here.” Blue said, getting his uninjured foot onto the floor. Red rolled his eyes and easily picked up the captain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The four of them were about to enter the ship when Blue suddenly gasped. Everybody stopped in worry, wondering what went wrong this time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have a gun!” Blue practically shouted. Red clapped his hand over Blue’s mouth, shushing him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What in the—</span>
  <em>
    <span>what do you mean you have a gun</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” Red hissed out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was allowed to bring a gun for the mission. I was obviously the only one with this permission, and I was supposed to keep it quiet. The point is, </span>
  <em>
    <span>we can defend ourselves</span>
  </em>
  <span>!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well where is it?” Brown asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“In the boys’ bedroom. Ehh, under my pillow.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re joking.” Brown deadpanned. Cyan shrugged, running towards the boys’ bedroom and coming out just a few minutes later with a pistol and multiple clips of ammo.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How in the world did you keep this hidden during the entire mission.” Cyan said, looking down at the pistol with a deadpan face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m a master of stealth!” Blue smirked. “It was easy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re like a twelve year old girl hiding her diary.” Brown rolled her eyes as they entered the ship. The door required her to focus for a few seconds, entering the code into the keypad for the door before it automatically swung open. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cyan loaded the gun but kept the safety on, at least they were pretty sure it was on. “It just occurred to me I have never used a gun before.” They said as they turned it off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I haven’t either.” Brown shrugged, looking at Blue.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve used a gun once, but something tells me I’m not the most reliable person.” Red chuckled nervously, shrugging with Blue still in his arms.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No offense, but I think I’m gonna keep it.” Cyan said as the group walked into the hypersleep chamber.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“None taken.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, I might not have used a gun before, but I’ve handled one. And I’ve shot a BB gun. Does that count?” Brown asked as Red set down the captain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ehh, better than me.” Cyan shrugged, handing Brown the gun and ammo. She loaded in a clip, at least she was pretty sure that was what it was called. Magazine? Who cares. The gun had bullets in it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The four of them stopped when they heard footsteps clanking in the ship and somebody whistling a far too happy tune as the footsteps slowly approached the room. Brown quickly slammed the door shut, locking it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You idiot!” Cyan growled. “He definitely knows where we are now!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well I’m sorry, should I have waited for him to stroll right into the room before I locked it?” Brown yelled back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cyan sighed, slapping their hand to their face. “It’s too late now. Let’s just hope he somehow isn’t smart enough to find us.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I locked the door anyways.” Brown shrugged. “I don’t think he’ll be able to make it through the metal.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This door is the thinnest one in the entire ship.” Blue paled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good, good. That’s fun.” Cyan growled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Their conversation stopped when they heard a thump on the door. One, two, three, as if White was knocking politely to be let in. Brown almost laughed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Could you open the door?” White’s muffled voice came through, shaking the handle violently. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh yeah, give me a second I’ll gladly let in the person trying to kill us.” Brown growled in response, trying and failing to keep the handle still.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>White stopped trying to break the handle, taking a few steps back before giving himself a running start and ramming his shoulder straight into the door. The door rattled in its hinges, an obvious dent now in the metal. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the heck?” Red yelped. “That’s metal! He just bent metal!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I noticed!” Brown yelled back, leaning all her weight against the door as it rattled again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The parasite gives them enhanced strength, Red. You know that!” Blue growled, trying and failing to stand up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stop standing, Blue! Your ankle is LITERALLY BROKEN.” Cyan yelled, helping Brown keep the door shut as it rattled for the third time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you just standing there for?” Brown yelled at Red, grunting as the door rattled again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m thinking!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Think faster!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Brown, you have a GUN. Use it!” Cyan growled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right! Step away from the door!” Brown said, and both her and Cyan took multiple steps back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>White didn’t take long to burst through the door, snarling. He was slightly hunched over, knees bent like a dog’s and a thin tail sprouting out from his rear. His face was malformed, almost looking like a hairless dog with long teeth, practically foaming at the mouth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Brown and Cyan both screamed before Brown finally raised the gun and shot White in the shoulder. Both Brown and White fell back and everybody covered their ears at the loud noise of the gun. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>All Brown could hear was the ringing in her ears before it slowly faded away. Everyone was breathing heavily and White was on the ground, clutching his shoulder with ragged breaths. Nobody moved for a few seconds until White scrambled away, still inhuman and bleeding a dark blue blood.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my gosh.” Red huffed out. “We should—I’m going to go see if he’s gone.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m coming too.” Cyan said, straightening up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay.” Brown tried not to make her voice sound like a whimper. “I’ll wait here with… with Blue.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Red and Cyan both carefully left through the door, cautious in their steps as they turned the corner and left Brown’s sight. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Brown hadn’t even noticed Blue had gotten out of his seat until Blue wrapped his arms around her. She looked at him before leaning into it, still breathing heavily.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The next chapter will be the last before the epilogue... Before I post it, is there anything someone wants to get out of the last chapter or epilogue specifically? I like user-reader interaction.</p><p>I also... am kinda sad that this story is going to be over soon. I already made a short story for Among Us called Forgiven that's completely unrelated to this one, but I still really love and you guys should definitely check it out. I'll also make more short stories fo shore so keep an eye out &gt;:)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. The Great Unknown</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I loved writing this story, honestly. It was kind of emotional?? I got attached to all of these characters way too much and way too fast. I'm super proud of everything I've made for this. There will be an epilogue as well as a chapter twelve containing every piece of art I've made for these characters. I hope you enjoy &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>White was gone. Cyan and Red had found the blood trail leading into the ship and not coming back. So Brown and Cyan started up the ship and took off, finally leaving the horrible planet called Polus.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Red and Blue both refused to go into hypersleep at first, demanding to stay and protect Brown and Cyan. But Blue couldn’t walk, and Red was still infected. So, eventually, they relented. And Brown and Cyan were alone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They were sitting in navigation, watching the streaks of stars as they flew through space. They would join hypersleep themselves soon enough, but for now they just wanted to relax.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sitting next to each other, Brown and Cyan held each other tightly. Brown couldn’t help but feel bad for White. He was stranded, all alone, with nobody. And he’d never see another person again. Not if Brown could help it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you think will happen once we get back?” Cyan mumbled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know.”  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two of them were quiet for a second, simply sitting there in the quiet. The only noise was the occasional rumble from the ship. Every time there was a new noise, one of the two would jump in surprise. They still hadn’t gotten over the terror of what happened on Polus, glancing behind them every few seconds. Just… to be sure.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A few minutes passed and they still sat there, trying to calm down. Over time they relaxed, jumping less at the loud sounds that the ship made and slowly relaxing into each other like decompressing pillows.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Brown blinked a few times before glancing over at Cyan, surprised to see Cyan staring at her. “Cyan? What—is something wrong?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re just pretty.” Cyan’s cheeks flushed a little bit. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks.” Brown looked down at her feet in embarrassment with a shamefully wide smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s… I’m glad we’re going home. I’m glad we’re safe now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’d be worried if you weren’t.” Brown chuckled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s your real name?” Cyan suddenly asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kira.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tempo.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cyan suddenly started laughing a little bit, holding their hand up to their mouth in an attempt to cover it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s so funny?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s just, the last person I shared my real name with—well, you shot him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You told White your real name?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He wasn’t a murderer back then! At least, he didn’t seem like one!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s just hope you don’t end up having to shoot me.” Brown chuckled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They settled into a comfortable silence again for a few minutes before Cyan spoke up. “Kira. I like that name. Kira. It fits you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tempo fits you, too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“White… he told me his real name was Bane. Kind of ironic, really, considering our scenario right now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Brown giggled, covering her mouth and nodding. The two were quiet again, leaning into each other with deep, calming breaths. Brown was close to falling asleep when Cyan stood up, holding out their hand to help Brown stand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s get into hypersleep.” Cyan smiled, keeping a gentle grasp on Brown’s hand as they walked out of navigation. Brown glanced at Red and Blue, ensuring that they were still okay in their pods, before entering her own.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll see you soon, Tempo.” Brown smiled, grabbing the handle of the pod door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll see you soon, Kira.”</span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓</span>
</p><p>
  <span> 5 months later</span>
</p><p>
  <span>┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Brown coughed as she walked out of the hypersleep pod, her legs barely moving her tired muscles. Cyan was already sitting on one of the chairs, recovering as well. Blue was pacing in the room, while Red was still in hypersleep.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There you are.” Blue smiled at Brown. “Let’s go land this ship back on Earth, alright?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What, were you waiting for me?” Brown chuckled, walking out of the hypersleep room with Cyan and Blue. They entered navigation, Brown going to watch the center panel as Cyan and Blue directed the ship.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The ship landed with a not-so-graceful </span>
  <em>
    <span>thump</span>
  </em>
  <span> on the concrete platform, making Brown stumble as it settled into position. “You alright?” Cyan asked, looking over their shoulder towards Brown, who was now leaning against the front panel.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m fine, just caught me off guard. Let’s get out of here and get Red to a doctor.” Brown chuckled nervously, leaving the navigation room and looking at the door to exit the ship. There would, no doubt, be people out there, waiting for them to exit. Would it just be engineers, or would there be reporters as well? Brown shuddered at the thought of being on the news, releasing the hatch as Cyan and Blue waited behind her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Brown opened the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kira stepped out.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Epilogue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm evil.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Kira sat in the field of flowers, a rainbow of colors underneath the bright sun. The flowers didn’t move despite the wind, and felt like plastic under her fingers. There was a tree a little ways ahead of her, unmoving as well with a computer attached. White was sitting underneath it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you happy?” White asked her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No.” Kira suddenly frowned, looking up at the sun. It didn’t hurt her eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then come back.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I miss you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kira glared back at White, who was now standing as the tree slowly rotted away. “Come back.” White was angry now, his face shifting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No!” Kira yelled, standing up as well before White suddenly dashed towards her, grabbing her space suit. When had she put that on?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Get away from me!” Kira growled, kicking away the alien.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come back!” White snarled, falling and then melting into the flowers as they died all around her. Kira’s mouth dropped in horror as the field of previously bright flowers all became weeds around her.</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kira shot up in bed, breathing heavily. Tempo was already next to her, holding her hand gently. “Kira? Did you have another nightmare?” Kira just nodded, trying to swallow down the horror in her head. “It’s just a dream, Kira. You’re safe now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kira leaned into Tempo, curling up and silently leaking tears down her face. “Just a dream.” She repeated, whispering mostly to herself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Kira finally got out of bed, she threw away the flowers on the kitchen island. They were pretty, but she couldn’t look at them now without thinking of White. Tempo came into the kitchen soon after, noticing the flowers in the trash.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kira, this isn’t a solution. You can’t throw everything away just because it reminds you of him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Watch me.” Kira grumbled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You have group therapy at 9.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Therapy schmerapy. I wanna go out to breakfast.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ve gotta go, alright? I know you don’t like therapy, but it’s helping. I worry about you.” Tempo hugged Kira from behind, pecking a kiss on her cheek. “Takeshi and Raidan are coming later today, too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You need a shower, you stink.” Kira giggled, returning the kiss.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, yeah.” Tempo rolled their eyes, stepping away from Kira and opening the cabinet to pull out some cereal and a bowl.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kira grabbed the keys from their spot hanging on the wall, waving goodbye to Tempo before getting into her car. She sat in the driver’s seat for a few seconds, closing her eyes before starting the engine as she always did. Kira didn’t move, letting the engine settle down into its normal volume after starting and then finally opening her eyes again, trying to forget the rumble of a ship’s engine.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She pulled out carefully, driving until she reached the wellness center where Tempo had signed her up for therapy. Apparently PTSD was a common thing, even if her circumstances were… unique.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She signed in like she did every week, walking into the room and taking a seat in the circle of chairs before folding over herself and staring at her feet as she waited for the session to start. One by one, people filed in, an uncomfortably familiar scenario to Kira. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to forget the sound of—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good morning everyone!” The ever-cheerful Mrs. Larissa Sharp exclaimed. Kira didn’t even glance up, continuing to stare at her feet. “I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>so</span>
  </em>
  <span> glad you were all able to make it today! In fact, we even have someone new joining us! Why don’t you go ahead and introduce yourself, dear?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kira glanced up as she heard the sound of someone standing up in their chair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can all call me Bane.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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